OFFICIAL RULES + TERMS OF PARTICIPATION

Teams are responsible for being familiar with the 2022-2023 Official Rules + Terms of Participation outlined below.

Our text to the left aims to give a plain English summary of the Math Video Challenge Program Rules + Terms of Participation to the right. Please ensure you read and understand the text on the right, given that the summary on the left does not fully capture the rules and terms.

Please contact the national office with any questions!

Terms of Participation

The Math Video Challenge is a free contest open to U.S. students in grades 6-8. MATHCOUNTS defines a U.S. student as any student who either (1) attends a school located in a U.S. state or territory or (2) attends an overseas school that is affiliated with the U.S. Departments of Defense or State. In this program, each team, consisting of exactly 4 students, creates a video based on one of the problems in the current program year’s MATHCOUNTS School Handbook. Teams will select one of the problems and the video should explain the solution to the problem in a real-world setting.

The Sponsor and Administrator of the Math Video Challenge is MATHCOUNTS Foundation (“MATHCOUNTS”), located at 1420 King Street, Alexandria, VA 22314. Any questions regarding the Math Video Challenge Program Rules + Terms of Participation below should be addressed to the MATHCOUNTS national office at [email protected].

The adult (18 years or older) who initiates and takes responsibility for a team’s registration in the Math Video Challenge is the “Team Advisor.” Team Advisors are responsible for being familiar with the program procedures and rules below. To participate in the Math Video Challenge video contest, each student (“Entrant”), as well as his/her Parent/Guardian giving permission for participation (“Parent”), agree to be bound by the following rules and must consent to the following terms. Non-compliance with any rules may result in, at MATHCOUNTS’ sole discretion, disqualification and awarding of a prize to an alternate winner. Upon submission of a video (“Entry”) to MATHCOUNTS for the Math Video Challenge video contest and for good and valuable consideration, receipt of which Entrant and Parent acknowledge, Entrant and Parent hereby agree to the terms as follows.

Eligibility

In order to be eligible to participate in the Math Video Challenge, an Entrant must be currently enrolled as a full-time student in grade 6 through 8 (or equivalent) at a public, private, charter, virtual or home school in one of the 50 United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands or Guam. Full-time students in grades 6 through 8 (or equivalent) at U.S. State Department and Defense Department dependent schools located internationally also are eligible.

Any immediate family members or household members of MATHCOUNTS employees are not eligible. Additionally, any immediate family members or household members of consultants and independent contractors who have, within the past 12 months, performed services for MATHCOUNTS also are not eligible. "Immediate Family Members" shall mean children, stepchildren or similar. "Household Members" shall mean those people who share the same residence at least 3 months a year.

Registration & Teams

All student teams must have exactly 4 members. Students do not have to combine with students from their own school, or even students from their hometown or state. Students may participate on more than 1 team.

Prior to uploading a video submission, each Entrant must be registered for the contest. To register for the contest:

An adult (18 years or older) Team Advisor must register the team on the MATHCOUNTS website and agree to the Team Advisor responsibilities.
Each member of the team must have his/her parent or guardian (Parent) complete the Parent/Guardian Permission Form, either offline or online, to confirm the Entrant is approved by a parent/guardian to participate.

Each team may submit more than 1 video, however:

A team may only have 1 video submission be eligible for advancement to the semifinals and beyond. Should a team have more than 1 video advance to the quarterfinals, the team will be asked to select which 1 video is to remain eligible to advance to the semifinals and beyond.
Each of a team’s Entries must feature a different problem from the current program year's handbook.

Outside Help

The 4 team members may split up the various tasks associated with the project as they like, and all 4 members do not necessarily need to appear in the video.

Subject to securing the appropriate written permissions, additional people not on the official team may appear in the video, but only the 4 team members may work on the video and be recognized for advancement and awards in the contest.

All work contributing directly to the team’s Entry must be completed solely by the 4 official team members. Very limited outside assistance is permitted. It is the responsibility of teams to seek clarification from the MATHCOUNTS Foundation if they are unsure whether a particular type of assistance would be in violation of the Math Video Challenge rules. Click here to learn more about acceptable and unacceptable outside help. MATHCOUNTS reserves the right to (1) request additional information from and/or (2) disqualify any team suspected of receiving inappropriate outside help on its Entry.

Other than the 4 team members, no one else may appear or provide voiceover for the video entries unless the team has obtained written permission from those persons whose name, image, likeness or voice ("Likeness") is included in the video, and that such person(s) have granted the team and MATHCOUNTS all necessary rights to use the person's Likeness as described in these rules, and that team provides MATHCOUNTS with copies of such permissions. If the Likeness of a minor is included, such grant of rights must include written permission from the minor's parent or legal guardian authorizing the use of the minor's Likeness on behalf of the minor.

Videos & Video Submission

Videos submitted in the Math Video Challenge:

Must be no more than 5 minutes in length.
Must be in English or subtitled in English.
Must be less than 500MB and one of the following file types: .mp4, .avi, .wmv, .ogv or .webm.
May not be changed or modified in any way after they are uploaded to the MATHCOUNTS website. Make sure the video file to be submitted is the final version of the video.
May not defame or disparage any individuals, companies, organizations or institutions.
May not contain nudity, lewd or vulgar behavior, offensive language and/or gestures.
Must not contain copyrighted content owned by third parties except as noted below.

All content in the videos (including music, audio, speech/voiceovers, stills, video supers or other audiovisual materials) must fall in one of the following categories:

Entirely original creations (written, created and performed by the Entrants)
Original creations of works in the public domain
Content that allows royalty-free use of the material with no restrictions by Entrant and MATHCOUNTS and that is properly attributed. Click here to learn more about using music/video in your video.

Video Ownership

Upon entry into the contest, each Entrant and Parent hereby assigns and forever transfers all right, title and interest, including the copyright and publications rights, of the Entry to MATHCOUNTS and its successors and assigns. The Entrant and Parent also agree MATHCOUNTS shall be the sole owner throughout the universe and in perpetuity of any and all rights in and to the Entry and any written or recorded works derived therefrom for all purposes whatsoever and in any manner or media including, without limitation, videocassette, DVD, computer on line services and any and all media now known or hereafter developed in the future. The Entrant and Parent shall have no rights or interest thereunder whatsoever.

Upon entry into the contest, each Entrant and Parent give and grant to MATHCOUNTS, its agents and their respective licensees, successors and assigns the irrevocable right to use, publish and copyright Entrant’s name, voice, photograph, video images, likeness and biographical data as set forth in their Entry, in whole or in part, in any and all media now known or hereafter developed throughout the world in perpetuity.

Upon entry into the contest, each Entrant and Parent give and grant to MATHCOUNTS the right to use Entrant’s name, voice, likeness, biographical data, city, state and country of residence in promotions and other publications, both print and online.

Entrant and Parent acknowledge that MATHCOUNTS may make recordings, pictures, videos or images of Entrant separate from the Entry, for example, in publicity releases announcing contest winners. Entrant and Parent acknowledge and agree that all right, title and interest, including the copyright and publications rights in and to any recordings, pictures, videos or images taken of Entrant by MATHCOUNTS, or any derivatives thereof, are solely owned by MATHCOUNTS. In connection with such recordings, pictures, videos or images taken of Entrant by MATHCOUNTS and derivatives thereof, Entrant and Parent give and grant to MATHCOUNTS, its agents and their respective licensees, successors and assigns the irrevocable right to use, publish and copyright Entrant’s name, voice, photograph, video images, likeness and biographical data.

Entrant and Parent warrant and represent that Entrant and Parent have the full right and power to enter into this Agreement and that this license does not in any way conflict with any existing commitment on Entrant’s or Parent’s part. Entrant and Parent further warrant and represent that the Entry has not been previously published and that the Entry has not previously won any awards.

Once the winner has been determined and the contest has concluded, the website containing the archive of videos may remain available for public use at no charge.

Program Timeline & Notifications

MATHCOUNTS reserves the right to modify the program timeline at any time without notice. The Critical Dates of the 2022-2023 Math Video Challenge are as follows:

August 2022: Registration and video submission open
January 13, 2023: Math Video Challenge Prize Drawing #1
February 1, 2023: Math Video Challenge Prize Drawing #2
March 1, 2023: Deadline to submit videos in the contest. No videos uploaded after 11:59 PM ET on March 1, 2023 will be eligible for the contest*
March 8, 2023: Announcement of Quarterfinalist Videos
March 22, 2023: Announcement of Judges’ Choice Winners and 12 Semifinalist Videos
April 3, 2023: Announcement of 4 Finalist Videos
May 15, 2023: Math Video Challenge Finals in Orlando, FL

*Any offline permission forms must be received by MATHCOUNTS by March 1, 2023 at 5:00pm ET.

MATHCOUNTS will notify by email the team advisor of any team that wins a prize drawing. For other awards, MATHCOUNTS will do the following to notify winning teams:

Quarterfinalists, Semifinalists and Judges’ Choice Winners: MATHCOUNTS will post the list on the MATHCOUNTS website until the next level’s winners are announced (March 8-April 3) and recognize teams on social media.
Finalists: MATHCOUNTS will post the list of finalist videos on the MATHCOUNTS website on April 3, 2023 and contact the Team Advisor of each of the 4 finalist teams by telephone, letter and/or email.

Participation Prizes

Prizes & Selection of Winners

As the Math Video Challenge video contest is one of skill, the odds of winning depend on the quality of the entries and the number of eligible entries received.

Participation Prizes: Videos may be posted to the MATHCOUNTS website until 11:59 PM ET on March 1, 2023.

Certificate of Participation (emailed as a PDF template to the Team Advisor)
On January 13, 2023 and again on February 1, 2023, MATHCOUNTS will conduct a drawing and randomly select 1 team for a prize. To be eligible for Prize Drawing #1, a team must have completed their team registration (including receiving parental permission for each member of that team) by 11:59 PM ET on January 13, 2023. To be eligible for Prize Drawing #2, a team must have submitted an eligible video into the Math Video Challenge by 11:59 PM ET on February 1, 2023. For each drawing, the team randomly-selected will receive 5 $20 Amazon gift cards (1 each for the 4 team members and Team Advisor). For Prize Drawing #2, each video acts as a “ticket” in the drawing, meaning teams that submit multiple videos will have multiple entries for the drawing.

Quarterfinalists & Semifinalists

Prizes & Selection of Winners

Quarterfinalist Videos: A panel of MATHCOUNTS judges will watch and score every video submitted in the contest based on its mathematical accuracy, communication quality, creativity, real-world application and adherence to contest rules. The top approximately 50-100 videos will be quarterfinalists in the contest and receive:

Recognition on the MATHCOUNTS website and social media channels
Certificate of Merit (emailed as a PDF template to the Team Advisor)
Entry into the Quarterfinalist Prize Drawing: MATHCOUNTS will randomly select 1 quarterfinalist video to win 5 $20 Amazon gift cards (1 each for the 4 team members and Team Advisor)

Semifinalist Videos: A panel of judges will watch and score the approximately 50-100 quarterfinalist videos based on the Math Video Challenge Scoring Rubric. The top 12 videos will be semifinalists in the contest and receive:

Recognition on the MATHCOUNTS website and social media channels
Printed Certificates of Achievement (mailed to the Team Advisor)
$20 Amazon gift cards (1 each for the 4 team members and Team Advisor, mailed to the Team Advisor)

Judges' Choice Videos: During the reviewing and scoring to determine quarterfinalists and semifinalists, MATHCOUNTS judges will select 6 videos to win special recognition. These award categories are Best Costumes, Best Animation, Best Set Design/Scenery, Best Special Effects/Editing, Best Screenplay and Most Memorable, and winners will receive:

Recognition on the MATHCOUNTS website and social media channels
Printed Judges’ Choice Certificates (mailed to the Team Advisor)
Judges’ Choice Plaques (1 each for the 4 team members and Team Advisor, mailed to the Team Advisor)

Finalists

Prizes & Selection of Winners

Finalist Videos: A panel of judges will watch and score the 12 semifinalist videos based on the Math Video Challenge Scoring Rubric. The top 4 videos will be finalists in the contest and receive:

Recognition on the MATHCOUNTS website and social media channels
An all-expenses-paid trip for the 4 team members and Team Advisor to the Math Video Challenge Finals, where they will present their video to the students at the MATHCOUNTS National Competition
Finalist Plaques (1 each for the 4 team members and Team Advisor, presented to the team at the Math Video Challenge Finals)

Each finalist team’s advisor will serve as the team’s chaperone. Should a video created by a team located outside of the continental United States be selected as one of the top 4 videos, MATHCOUNTS will reimburse said team up to $3,000 per team to attend the event. Travel costs exceeding $3,000 would be the responsibility of the participants.

At least 2 student team members and an adult (18 years or older) chaperone must participate in person at the contest finals for the team to be eligible to (1) redeem the trip prize and (2) win the top prize.

First Place Winner

Prizes & Selection of Winners

First Place Winner: The students who are competing in the MATHCOUNTS National Competition will watch all 4 finalist videos during the Math Video Challenge Finals and vote to determine the First Place Video. The winning team will receive:

Recognition on the MATHCOUNTS website and social media channels
First Place Medals (1 each for the 4 team members and Team Advisor, presented to the team at the MATHCOUNTS National Competition)
$1,000 college scholarship (1 each for the 4 team members)

Prize Terms

Prizes & Selection of Winners

If applicable, all prize recipients are responsible for any and all federal, state and/or local taxes resulting from acceptance of the prize. Prizes are nontransferable. If a prize cannot be awarded due to circumstances beyond MATHCOUNTS’ control, a substitute prize of equal or greater retail value will be awarded; provided, however, that if prizes are awarded but unclaimed/forfeited by recipient, the prize will be deemed forfeit and void and will not be awarded, except in MATHCOUNTS’ sole discretion. MATHCOUNTS reserves the right not to award any prizes.

Cheating

MATHCOUNTS shall not be responsible for cheating or fraud by any of the Entrants, Parents or Team Advisors. Any activities intended to disrupt or interfere with the contest or defraud MATHCOUNTS in any way will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Entrants, Parents or Team Advisors who engage in any of the foregoing activities will be disqualified and will forfeit any prize won.

Additional Terms

MATHCOUNTS assumes no responsibility for lost, incomplete, misdirected, illegible, late, malfunctioning or non-functioning entries, or for failed computer transmissions or any other technical failures. If for any reason the Math Video Challenge contest is not capable of running as planned, including infection by computer virus, bugs, tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud, technical failures, or any other causes which corrupt or affect the administration, security, fairness, integrity, or proper conduct of the contest, MATHCOUNTS reserves the right at its sole discretion, to disqualify any individual who tampers with the contest, and to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend the contest.

Upon entry into the contest, each Entrant and Parent release MATHCOUNTS, its agents, and their respective licensees, successors or assigns from any and all liability with respect to or in any way arising from this contest and/or acceptance or use/misuse of the prizes, including but not limited to liability for personal injury, bodily injury including wrongful death or disability, damage to property, and damage or loss of any other kind.

Each Entrant and Parent warrant and represent that the Entry is original with the Entrant and that the use of the Entry by MATHCOUNTS, its agents, and their respective licensees, successors or assigns will not violate the rights of any third parties. In the event of any claim that the Entry does violate the rights of any third party, the Entrant and Parent hereby agree to indemnify and hold harmless MATHCOUNTS, its officers, directors, employees, agents and their respective licensees, successors and assigns, from any and all such claims, demands, actions, damages, costs and expenses (including attorney’s fees).

Any and all disputes that cannot be resolved with MATHCOUNTS, and causes of action arising out of or connected with this contest, shall be resolved individually, without resort to any form of class action, before a court of competent jurisdiction located in Alexandria, Virginia, which court shall apply the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia without regard for rules of conflicts of law. IN ANY SUCH DISPUTE, ENTRANTS AND PARENTS SHALL NOT BE ENTITLED TO ANY PUNITIVE, SPECIAL, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION ATTORNEYS' FEES, OR ANY DAMAGES OTHER THAN ACTUAL OUT-OF-POCKET EXPENSES (IF ANY) ASSOCIATED WITH PARTICIPATING IN THE CONTEST. ENTRANTS AND PARENTS HEREBY WAIVE ANY RIGHTS TO HAVE DAMAGES MULTIPLIED OR INCREASED.