Terms & Conditions (Updated February 2025)

The Minted Terms and Conditions outlined below will apply to Challenges launched after February 2025. Terms and Conditions may be updated for each challenge. Ensure you have fully read the Terms and Conditions for each Challenge you submit to. 

Introduction and Limitations on Submissions

You affirm that you are over 18 years of age, are fully able and competent to enter into the terms, conditions, obligations, affirmations, representations, and warranties set forth in these Terms and Conditions, and to abide by and comply with these Terms and Conditions.

By submitting your Work (as defined in “Exclusive License for Winning Designs”) to Minted and checking the box provided in the relevant challenge brief, you agree to the following terms and conditions:

You promise, represent and warrant that each and every Work you submit to Minted (a) is your own original work, (b) has not been previously, and is not currently being, published, distributed, sold or reproduced anywhere by any means in any physical medium (including in any books or magazines) other than (i) in a single original work if the Work was first produced in a tangible medium (e.g., watercolor or other painting or photographic negative) and/or (ii) no more than twenty five copies total of the Work having been sold by you prior to submission to Minted, (c) does not contain any trademarks, logos, or copyrighted material other than those which have been provided to you by Minted, those that you solely own, or those that you have notified us of and have the right to use and license to Minted in accordance with these Terms and Conditions, and (d) does not contain any content subject to any right of publicity, likeness or privacy (or similar rights).  You must notify Minted with your submission of any third party-owned intellectual property included in your submitted artwork. You may not use any content provided to you by Minted for any purpose other than to submit Works incorporating such content to Minted in connection with this challenge.

You may not submit any materials, including, without limitation, photographs or other images, text, graphics, videos, visuals, sounds, data, files, links, or other materials including the Work (“Materials”) that could infringe any rights of privacy or publicity, copyrights, or other intellectual property rights, unless you have the written permission of the owner of these rights and the persons (or their parents or legal guardians, where applicable) who are shown or who have rights in or to the Materials.  Furthermore, you may not submit any Materials that may give rise to any civil or criminal liability under applicable law or expose Minted or its legal affiliates or partners to the threat of the same. 

Please read ‎the “Mandatory Arbitration” and “Class Action Waiver” sections towards the end of these Terms and Conditions as they contain a mandatory binding arbitration provision and a class action waiver that governs any disputes between you and Minted.

Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (Generative AI) Tools.  Minted allows limited use of Generative AI tools in producing your Work. The only Generative AI tool you may use in connection with the creation or production of your Work are tools within the Adobe Suite, and text-based models such as ChatGPT.  The use of any other Generative AI tool is subject to Minted’s prior written approval. In general, the use of Generative AI tools (including Adobe) is only allowed for editing and file production workflow. In particular, generative AI tools may not be used to:  

• Generate an entire photo or work of art for submission
• Generate a complete stationery design
• Generate an icon or an illustration within a broader design, composition, or pattern
• Generate an entire pattern with AI-generated elements, such as for the back of a card

In the interest of using this technology to support creative human work, approved generative AI tools may be used to: 

• Ideate and brainstorm 
• Create an art statement or generate design tags
• Create alternate colorways 
• Retouch photos or works of art 
• Extend the edges of photos or fine art images 
• Extend or retouch Minted photo kit photos 
• Turn a non-AI-generated element into a repeating pattern

Materials that Violate these Terms; Restriction on Promotions

We reserve the right to delete, move or edit images, or suspend viewing or printing of any Materials if, in our sole discretion, we deem any submission to be in violation of these Terms, abusive, defamatory, in violation of laws or rights of privacy or publicity, copyrights, or other intellectual property rights, or otherwise inappropriate or having the potential to lead to civil or criminal liability.

Please note that our community members may report Materials they believe inappropriate. Minted has the right, but not the obligation, to remove Materials in response to user reports or requests.  Minted is not responsible for, and will have no liability for, the removal or non-removal of any Materials.

You acknowledge that Minted may decline to select a Work for voting on Minted.com (together with our other owned websites, our “Site”) or as the winner of a cash award as part of a challenge (a “Prize”) for any reason in its sole discretion.  Nothing in these Terms and Conditions obligates Minted to promote or sell the Work, even if the Work is selected for a Prize.   You agree not to use our Site to promote or link to any products or services of any company that operates in competition with Minted including, without limitation, Etsy, Society6, Zazzle, Shutterfly/TinyPrints, Paperless Post and Café Press.

Challenge and Trial Period; Name and Likeness License

If the Work is selected to be displayed by Minted for voting on our Site, then upon such selection, you hereby grant us the right to use, upload, modify, reproduce, create derivative works of, and display the Work for the purposes of promoting Minted and this challenge on our Site and otherwise throughout the world, in Minted’s sole discretion, both during the challenge and during the Trial Period (as defined below).

You may participate as a voter in this challenge but you may only have one active Minted account under which you submit your votes. The purchase or barter of additional votes or encouragement of other users to vote under multiple accounts are considered improper voting practices. Minted reserves the right to audit suspicious voting practices and if you are found to be engaging in improper voting tactics, Minted may exclude improper votes from consideration, remove your entry or entries from consideration for this challenge, terminate your account for fraud in accordance with our Terms of Service, or take other corrective action.

Whether or not we select the Work for a Prize, you may not offer for sale, sell, or submit the Work to others or otherwise publish, distribute, or reproduce the Work or allow others to do so for any purpose until the date that is 90 days after the challenge’s submission deadline (the “Trial Period”). After the expiration of the Trial Period, if Minted has not notified you that it has selected the Work for a Prize, then you will be free to use the Work for any purpose. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if you have been provided an Artist-specific, branded shopping area on a subdomain of the Site by Minted (a “Store”), to the extent you self-launched products incorporating the Work prior to submitting it to the challenge, subject to the terms and conditions governing your use of the Store, you may continue to sell such products via your Store during the Trial Period. If Minted selects your Work for a Prize, your Work will be subject to these Terms and Conditions, including the applicable challenge brief.

During the Trial Period, we may display the Work in connection with use on products offered for sale to assess consumer interest, even if we have not yet selected your Work for a Prize.  You hereby license us the use of your name and identifying information and image (“Artist Name”) for purposes of promoting the Work, this challenge and Minted both during and after the Trial Period.

Exclusive License for Winning Designs

If your Work is selected for a Prize by Minted, then effective upon Minted’s written notice to you of such selection, you hereby immediately and irrevocably grant to Minted an exclusive (even as to you, subject to the License Conversion as defined below), sublicenseable (through multiple tiers), assignable, royalty-free, fully paid-up, irrevocable right to use, reproduce, distribute (through multiple tiers), create derivative works of, and publicly display and perform (publicly or otherwise) the copyright and all other intellectual property rights in your submitted artwork and in any additional matching items set forth in the applicable challenge brief or otherwise requested by Minted or provided by you in connection with your Work (“Matching Items”) (your submitted artwork and Matching Items, collectively, the “Work”).  This exclusive license includes, without limitation, the right to copy, reproduce, make derivative works and sell or offer for sale the Work and any products bearing or incorporating the Work or any derivative thereof, to allow others to do the same.  The foregoing exclusive license granted to Minted includes all rights to prosecute and maintain the intellectual property rights relating to such Work in Minted’s or its designee’s name (including to register such Work with any copyright office), to recover royalties and other payments, and to initiate causes of action (and to sue and recover, claim and retain damages, costs and fees) for infringement or violation of any intellectual property rights relating to such Work, and to license or sublicense such Work or related intellectual property rights to others, in each case without additional compensation or obligation to you other than the Sales Commission described below.  You agree to provide Minted with any information as may be required in order to register the copyright in such Work if Minted so requests, at no additional cost to Minted.

You agree and acknowledge that nothing herein constitutes a license, or other permission, allowing you to copy, reproduce or sell or offer for sale any Minted product, even in the event of License Conversion.  If your Work is selected for a Prize, Minted may request, and you agree to provide to Minted, a signed version of any documents reasonably requested by Minted that confirm the terms set forth in these Terms and Conditions, including the exclusive license of the intellectual property rights in the Work from you to Minted.  For clarity, the foregoing exclusive license of your right, title, and interest in and to the Work does not take effect until and unless Minted notifies you in writing that the Work has been selected for a Prize by Minted. 

Without limiting the foregoing, if the Work is selected for a Prize, Minted may, among other things, use, and you consent to Minted’s use of, the Work and your Artist Name in any manner, including but not limited to: (a) reproducing the Work, or portions thereof, and your Artist Name on products, (b) selling products (including but not limited to art prints, greeting cards, invitations, gifts, home decor, apparel, fabric goods, online or virtual products, and stationery) bearing the Work or any derivative thereof, or incorporating any aspect of the Work or any derivative thereof, which may include or be associated with your Artist Name and which may be, in Minted’s sole discretion, sold via the Site and/or your Minted Store, if applicable, or otherwise, (c) changing or reworking the Work by making color or size changes, (d) making derivative works of the Work and (e) using the Work and your Artist Name on our Site and otherwise to promote Minted.  To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, you shall not enforce, or you hereby waive, any moral rights or similar rights that cannot be assigned or licensed to Minted under law, in connection with any use of the Work, including any right of attribution, right not to have authorship falsely attributed and right not to have a work subjected to derogatory treatment.  

If the Work is selected for a Prize, until the “Conversion Date (as defined below),” you may not reproduce, sell, or otherwise use or distribute the Work or derivatives thereof in any manner whatsoever or allow others to do so, including making products bearing the Work or derivatives thereof or incorporating the Work or any derivatives thereof in any form, including for your personal use or as gifts to friends or other third parties; provided, however, that if the Work was created from a tangible single original work (e.g., a painting), Minted grants you the right to display the original work and transfer it to someone else, but you, and anyone who obtains the original work from you, cannot reproduce or authorize others to reproduce the original in any medium or create derivative works of the original work.  For Work that is submitted to Minted as fine art, if Minted has not launched a stationery or other non-fine art product incorporating or constituting a derivative work of that Work (a “Repurposed Stationery Product”), the “Conversion Date” is the date when Minted notifies you in writing that it has elected to no longer offer the Work for sale in any form or on any product.  For all other Work (including submitted fine art Work with respect to which Minted has launched a Repurposed Stationery Product), the “Conversion Date” is the date 15 months after Minted notifies you in writing that it has elected to no longer offer the Work for sale in any form or on any product.

Conversion of License from Exclusive to Non-Exclusive

In the event that Minted notifies you in writing that it has elected to no longer offer the Work for sale for sale in any form or on any product, then effective on the Conversion Date, the foregoing exclusive license granted to Minted shall convert to a perpetual non-exclusive license, without limiting any of the other licensed rights set forth above (such conversion to a non-exclusive license, a “License Conversion”). For the avoidance of doubt, after a License Conversion, (i) Minted shall retain the sublicenseable (through multiple tiers), perpetual, assignable, royalty-free, fully paid-up right to use, reproduce, distribute (through multiple tiers), create derivative works of, and publicly display and perform (publicly or otherwise) the copyright and all other intellectual property rights in the Work on a non-exclusive basis, including, without limitation, the right to copy, reproduce, make derivative works and sell or offer for sale the Work and products bearing the Work or any derivatives thereof or incorporating the work or any derivative thereof, and to allow others to do the same, without additional compensation or obligation to you other than the Sales Commissions described below, (ii) Minted’s ownership of or license to any Minted product shall not terminate or otherwise be impacted, limited or restricted, and (iii) your agreement to not enforce and to waive any moral rights or similar rights as set forth above shall continue to apply. 

Sale as Limited Edition

All fine art submissions selected for a Prize by Minted may be sold by Minted as limited edition works (each, a “Limited Edition”). You acknowledge that certain laws may require Minted to track and disclose the number of copies of the Work that exist in any form and otherwise govern the sale of Limited Editions. In addition to any other rights granted to Minted, for each Limited Edition: (a) you grant Minted the right to sell the Work as a Limited Edition, including via the Site, your Store or otherwise, and (b) you grant Minted the right to set the maximum quantity available of the Limited Edition in each size, substrate and colorway for the purposes of offering the Limited Edition as a limited edition product, and to make all decisions regarding the availability of Limited Editions for each edition. In addition to the foregoing, Minted may require you to enter into additional agreements governing Limited Editions, and you agree to execute such additional agreements upon request from Minted and to otherwise comply with all requirements related to Limited Editions that Minted may make known to you from time to time (including, without limitation, requirements related to providing Minted with information necessary to comply with laws governing the sale of Limited Editions). For each Limited Edition, the foregoing paragraph and any other terms and conditions related to Limited Editions shall survive any termination of any agreement between you and Minted, including, without limitation, the termination of these Terms and Conditions.

In the event of a License Conversion, you agree that you will not ever, or allow any other person ever, to reproduce, sell, or otherwise use or distribute the Work in any Limited Edition size and colorway in which Minted sold the work prior to the License Conversion.

License to Non-Artwork Materials

In the event that you post, submit, or upload non-artwork Materials (i.e., Materials other than your artwork or Matching Items) (“NAM”), such submission will not change the ownership status of those NAM, and you hereby grant Minted and its designees a worldwide, non-exclusive, sublicensable (through multiple tiers), assignable, royalty-free, fully paid-up, perpetual, irrevocable right to use, reproduce, distribute (through multiple tiers), create derivative works of, and publicly display and perform (publicly or otherwise) such NAM. Please note that while you may retain ownership of your NAM, any design, template, or layout in which you arrange or organize such NAM through tools and features made available through Minted is not proprietary to you, and can be used by Minted and others for any purposes. You acknowledge and agree that you have no rights in any such design, template, and/or layout, and such template or layout is the sole and exclusive property of Minted or its licensors.

Prizes and Sales Commissions

Prize:  If your Work is selected for a Prize, then we will pay you a lump sum cash Prize amount and a Sales Commission, as set forth below and in the applicable challenge brief and/or the Ongoing Sales Commissions chart below. All Prize amounts are in U.S. dollars.  Minted may, in its sole discretion, also select Editor’s Picks and/or recognize other categories of top Works (including as voted by the community) as Prize winners, as specified in the applicable challenge brief, each of which will be deemed selected for a Prize.

If your Work is selected for a Prize, the cash Prize will be sent to you within 90 days after Minted receives a high-resolution version of the Work and all other requirements set forth in the applicable challenge brief are fulfilled. If, after providing you with written notice to produce high-resolution artwork, Minted does not receive a high-resolution version of your Work within 14 days, then Minted reserves the right to withdraw your Prize and refuse you payment for use of the Work.

Sales commission: You will be paid a commission on Net Sales of any Minted products sold by Minted that wholly incorporate the Work (“Commissionable Items”) (such commission, the “Sales Commission”).  Commissionable Items shall include (a) backers, envelope liners and envelopes that wholly incorporate the Work and (b) with respect to any Minted products that wholly incorporate the Work, all shapes or other changes to basic form factor, such as folded cards. Commissionable Items expressly exclude: (a) backers, envelope liners and envelopes that do not wholly incorporate the Work, (b) higher quality paper, (c) frames, shipping, personalization or addressing services and (d) additional personalization or custom design services provided by Minted.  Applicable Sales Commissions are set forth in the Ongoing Sales Commission table below. If a product includes both Commissionable Items and other items, Minted will apportion the proceeds received by Minted among such items as it deems equitable in its sole discretion.  “Net Sales” is defined as the retail price received by Minted from its customer (i.e., the price charged after any promotional discounts, fees charged by selling and distribution partners, shipping, and taxes) for the sale of Commissionable Items, excluding chargebacks and returned and/or defective products, and including a portion of order additions or refunds as described below.  Minted may offer any products incorporating the Work or the Matching Items at any price, for any amount of time in any market, in Minted’s sole discretion. 

Sales Commissions shall be paid to you within 90 days from the end of each calendar quarter in which they were earned. If a customer increases the order size or receives a full or partial refund before commissions are processed, a percentage of those adjustments will be applied to your Commissionable Items. The percentage will be based on the ratio of the sale value of the Commissionable Items to the total sale value of the related product.  If Minted releases a product containing the Work of more than one artist, Minted is entitled to split the commission for such product (which shall total the amount set forth on the Ongoing Sales Commission chart or otherwise specified by Minted) as it deems equitable in its sole discretion.

Calculation of Sales Commissions shall be in Minted’s reasonable discretion and shall not be subject to audit or other verification by you. If Minted believes that you have breached any provision of these Terms and Conditions (including your representation that the Work does not contain any trademarks, logos, or copyrighted material other than that which has been provided to you by Minted or that you solely own or have the rights to use, and does not contain any content subject to any right of publicity or privacy), then Minted may cancel or suspend any payments of Sales Commissions to you, and recover any Prizes, Sales Commissions or other consideration previously paid to you, without prejudice to any other rights Minted may have against you.

You alone shall be responsible for the payment of any tax that arises as a result of receiving payment from Minted, as we will not withhold any taxes from the Prize or Sales Commissions paid to you.

Selection of Work for Prize or Wholesale Partner Collection after the Trial Period

Your Works, including Works that were previously self-launched via your Store, may be selected by Minted at any time after the Trial Period for a Prize or for inclusion in one or more of Minted’s wholesale partner collections, in each case in exchange for the consideration offered by Minted.  Minted will notify you of its selection and you may accept or reject the Prize or other consideration. If your Work is selected for a Prize or inclusion in our wholesale partner collection and you accept, we will pay you the offered Prize or other consideration as a lump sum cash amount, which will be treated as a Prize hereunder, plus any applicable Sales Commission as set forth herein. 

In the case of a Work that was previously self-launched through your store, Minted may, upon your acceptance of a Prize or other consideration, transfer or convert any products bearing the Work or any derivatives thereof, or incorporating the Work or any derivatives thereof, that you previously self-launched in your Store as Minted deems necessary, including converting any such Works into a Limited Edition designation on your Store and deducting the number of such products you sold via your Store prior to the date of such transfer from the available number of Limited Editions of such products.

To the extent that you accept the Prize or other consideration for any Work selected after the Trial Period, including for a wholesale partner collection, these Terms and Conditions will be applicable to your Work, including (i) if you are selected for a Prize, the Prizes and Sales Commissions set forth in the applicable challenge brief or Minted’s communication to you, or (ii) if you are selected for a wholesale partner collection, the consideration offered by Minted, which will be treated hereunder as a Prize and shall include your grant of an exclusive license to Minted as provided herein. 

General

Submission of the Work and checking the box acknowledging that you have read and agree to these Terms and Conditions and the applicable challenge brief constitutes your acceptance of these Terms and Conditions, the applicable challenge brief and Minted’s general Terms and Conditions, and creates a binding contract governed by under California law, without regard to conflict of law principles.  You may not assign or otherwise transfer any right or obligation herein without the prior written consent of Minted, which may be withheld in Minted’s sole discretion. Minted may assign or otherwise transfer any right or obligation herein without your consent. 

MANDATORY ARBITRATION: The parties acknowledge and agree that to conserve each party's time, money, and resources, and to promote a continued amicable relationship between the parties, before filing an arbitration as provided for in this section, the parties will try in good faith to resolve informally any and all claims or disputes between the parties relating to these Terms and Conditions, including your Work and the challenge (“Dispute”). If the Dispute cannot be resolved through such informal means despite each party’s good faith efforts, then the Dispute may only be decided via binding arbitration in accordance with applicable rules of the American Arbitration Association. Any arbitration will be held in San Francisco, California. The arbitral tribunal’s award shall be final and binding and enforceable in any court of competent jurisdiction in any jurisdiction anywhere in the world.

CLASS ACTION WAIVER: ANY ARBITRATION WILL TAKE PLACE ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS. Each party hereby waives the right to have any Dispute brought, heard, administered, resolved, or arbitrated as a class action, or on any class, collective, representative or mass basis.

Injunctive Relief. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in these Terms and Conditions, nothing will prevent either party from seeking preliminary injunctive relief, or interim or conservatory measures in a court of competent jurisdiction to prevent the infringement or other misuse of intellectual property rights.

ONGOING SALES COMMISSIONS:

Product	Sales Commission
Printed and “Print-It-Yourself” stationery products and fabric products incorporating the Work	6%
Art prints incorporating the Work	10%
All other products incorporating the Work	As determined by Minted upon Minted’s launch of each such product; Minted will notify you of the applicable Sales Commission for each such product