Color-Off official rules
Draft. A lawyer will review these rules before the first contest opens. Anything in [brackets] will be filled in.
The Color-Off is a monthly coloring contest judged on skill. Here's everything you need to know to enter, in plain words.
1. Who runs it
The Color-Off is run by Decoder Rebellion. It is not sponsored, endorsed or run by YouTube, Meta, Amazon or any other platform, or by any business that donates a prize.
2. Who can enter
- Colorists of all ages who live in an eligible country or area (see section 11). [Lawyer to confirm.]
- The person who fills in the entry form must be 18 or older. Colorists under 18 must be entered by their parent or legal guardian, who gives permission, provides the entry details and accepts any prize on the child's behalf. Children should never enter for themselves.
- For a colorist under 18, we only ask for their first name and age. Please keep faces out of photos.
- Not eligible: the owners of Decoder Rebellion and their immediate families and households, and anyone paid by Decoder Rebellion to help run that month's contest.
3. When
Each Color-Off runs for one month. The exact start and end dates and times for each month, the prize and the code word are posted on the contest page at https://decoderrebellion.pages.dev/contest. Entries must be received before that month's closing time.
Book bonus entries described in a printed Collab edition book can be used until the expiration date printed in that book: [EXPIRATION DATE].
4. Age groups
Entries are judged in three age groups, by the colorist's age on the day of entry. Each group has its own winner and its own prize.
- Kids: 12 and under
- Teens: 13 to 17
- Adults: 18 and up
5. How to enter
There are three kinds of entries. No purchase is necessary to enter or win. Every kind of entry is judged the same way.
| Entry | How | Limit |
|---|---|---|
| Free entry | Download and print that month's free page from the contest page, color it, and upload one photo of it using the contest page form. | One per colorist per month |
| Book bonus entry | Color your favorite page from a Decoder Rebellion book. Write that month's code word on a sticky note, place it on the page, and take one photo showing the colored page in the book with the note. Upload it from any featured artist's page (scan their QR code in the book). | One per colorist per month |
| Extra entry code | Add a code and a photo of a second, different colored page. That page is judged on its own as a separate entry. Codes come on store code cards, in website order emails and printed in Collab edition books. Anyone can also get one free code each month by tapping "Email me a free extra entry code" on the entry form. | Each code works once (codes printed in Collab books: once per colorist each month), until the date it expires |
- The coloring must be the colorist's own work, done by hand. Photos may be cropped or brightened, but not digitally colored or changed in any other way.
- Use your own email address. A parent may use one email address for up to 4 colorists in their household (themselves and their children) each month. Entries using more than one email address to get extra entries may be disqualified.
- After you enter, we email you a link. Your entry only counts once you tap that link to confirm it, within 48 hours. Temporary or throwaway email addresses can't be used.
- After 5 wrong email addresses or 5 wrong extra entry codes, entries from that browser or email are paused for 24 hours.
- Each photo can be entered only once. Entries sent by bots, scripts or other automated tools, or many entries made to look like different people, will be disqualified.
- Every photo is reviewed by hand. You'll get an email when your entry is approved, or when it can't be accepted, with the reason. If it can't be accepted, you may send a new photo before that month's closing time.
6. How winners are chosen
This is a contest of skill, not a random drawing. After entries close, approved entries are judged within each age group by a panel that includes at least one judge who is independent of Decoder Rebellion [names or qualifications posted on the contest page]. Judges score:
- Coloring skill, including layering, blending and shading: [40]%
- Creativity and use of color: [30]%
- Completeness and neatness: [30]%
If two or more entries tie, the entry with the higher score for coloring skill wins. If they are still tied, the judges score those entries again on creativity. Ties are never broken by a random draw. [Lawyer to confirm.]
The judges' decisions are final. Each kind of entry is judged the same way. An extra entry is a different colored page judged on its own; it doesn't add points to another entry.
7. Prizes
- Each month's prize for each age group, and its approximate retail value, is posted on the contest page before the contest opens.
- Age-appropriate prizes: if a winner is younger than the minimum age the prize's maker sets (for example, Meta sets 10 for Quest headsets), their parent or guardian may choose the prize or an age-appropriate prize of equal value.
- A prize won by a colorist under 18 is awarded to their parent or legal guardian, who signs any prize forms.
- Prizes can't be traded for cash or swapped, except that Decoder Rebellion may substitute a prize of equal or greater value if a prize becomes unavailable.
- Winners are responsible for any taxes. Winners whose prizes in a year are worth more than the IRS reporting amount ($2,000 for 2026) will need to give a tax form (W-9) before the prize is sent.
- Some prizes are donated by partner businesses, who are named on the contest page. Partners are responsible for honoring passes or memberships they provide.
8. Winners
Winners are notified by email after judging (for colorists under 18, their parent or guardian is emailed). A winner must reply within 7 days with their full name and shipping address, or the next highest-scoring entry in that age group may win. Adult winners' first names, cities and winning photos may be shared on the Decoder Rebellion website and channels. For colorists under 18, we share the winning page, and their first name, age and state or region only if their parent or guardian said yes.
9. Your coloring and your photo
- The colorist keeps the rights to their coloring. By entering, the entrant lets Decoder Rebellion show the photo of the colored page on its website, videos and social channels to promote the Color-Off and the books, without payment. Names are shared only as described in section 8.
- Being chosen as a winner or as Colorist of the Month is a feature, not a job offer. It doesn't include employment, royalties or a place on an artist crew. Crew spots are only offered through the Join Our Team application and a signed artist agreement.
10. Your information
We use the entrant's name, email, birth month and year, country, and the photo only to run the contest and contact the entrant. For a colorist under 18, we collect only their first name and age, from their parent or guardian. A parent or guardian can ask us at any time to see or delete their child's details. We never sell personal information. Location data is removed from photos when they're sent. See our privacy notice.
11. Where the Color-Off is open
The Color-Off is open to colorists who live in:
- United States: the 50 states and the District of Columbia.
- Canada: every province and territory except Quebec, for now. Quebec will join once these rules are available in French. Where the age of majority is 19 (British Columbia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, the Northwest Territories, Nunavut and Yukon), entrants under 19 must be entered by a parent or guardian. Canadian winners must correctly answer a skill-testing question before receiving a prize.
- United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden and Australia.
More countries will be added over time. The entry form only lists the countries that are open.
- Prizes outside the US: winners outside the United States receive an Amazon gift card for their own country's Amazon store, worth the prize's US retail value, instead of the physical prize. US park and zoo passes are only offered to US winners.
- Costs: Decoder Rebellion never asks a winner to pay to receive a prize. Any shipping and import charges for a physical prize are paid by Decoder Rebellion.
- Taxes: winners are responsible for any taxes in their own country. Where US law requires it, Decoder Rebellion may need a tax form (W-9 for US winners, W-8BEN for others) and may have to withhold tax. [Tax adviser to confirm.]
- Not eligible: anyone living in a country or region under US sanctions, or listed on a US government sanctions list.
- Void where prohibited or restricted by law.
12. The fine print
- Decoder Rebellion may disqualify entries that break these rules, are offensive, or appear to be copied, generated or digitally colored.
- If something outside our control (such as a technical failure) affects a contest, Decoder Rebellion may extend, pause or cancel that month's contest and judge the entries already received.
- Decoder Rebellion isn't responsible for entries that are lost, late or incomplete because of internet or device problems.
- These rules follow the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, except where the law of the entrant's home country requires otherwise.
Questions? Write to us at [CONTACT EMAIL].
Decoder Rebellion. Last updated [DATE].
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