Terms of Service

1. OUR SERVICES

The information provided when using the Services is not intended for distribution to or use by any person or entity in any jurisdiction or country where such distribution or use would be contrary to law or regulation or which would subject us to any registration requirement within such jurisdiction or country. Accordingly, those persons who choose to access the Services from other locations do so on their own initiative and are solely responsible for compliance with local laws, if and to the extent local laws are applicable.

The Services are not FedRAMP authorized and are not designed to store protected health information under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) or nonpublic personal information under the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA). You will not submit such information unless we agree in writing.

2. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS

3. USER REPRESENTATIONS

By using the Services, you represent and warrant that: (1) all registration information you submit will be true, accurate, current, and complete; (2) you will maintain the accuracy of such information and promptly update such registration information as necessary; (3) you have the legal capacity and you agree to comply with these Legal Terms; (4) if you are an organizer or a judge, you are at least 18 years old and have reached the age of majority in the jurisdiction in which you reside, and if you are an entrant or a voter under 18, you are at least 13 years old and, if you are an entrant, a parent or legal guardian has consented to your use of the Services and agrees to these Legal Terms on your behalf; (5) you will not access the Services through automated or non-human means, whether through a bot, script or otherwise, except as permitted in section 7; (6) you will not use the Services for any illegal or unauthorized purpose; and (7) your use of the Services will not violate any applicable law or regulation.

If you provide any information that is untrue, inaccurate, not current, or incomplete, we have the right to suspend or terminate your account and refuse any and all current or future use of the Services (or any portion thereof).

4. USER REGISTRATION

You may be required to register to use the Services. You agree to keep your password confidential and will be responsible for all use of your account and password. We reserve the right to remove, reclaim, or change a username you select if we determine, in our sole discretion, that such username is inappropriate, obscene, or otherwise objectionable.

5. PURCHASES AND PAYMENT

We accept the following forms of payment:

• Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Discover
• Invoice, paid by bank transfer (ACH or wire), including against a purchase order

You agree to provide current, complete, and accurate purchase and account information for all purchases made via the Services, and to promptly update it, including email address, payment method, and payment card expiration date, so that we can complete your transactions and contact you as needed. Sales tax is added where the law requires it. All payments shall be in US dollars.

You agree to pay all charges at the prices in effect when you place your order, and, when you pay by card, you authorize us to charge your card for those amounts. Invoices are payable within 30 days unless the invoice or your order states otherwise; a renewal invoice is payable only if you choose to renew, as set out in section 6. If we make an error in pricing, we will tell you and correct it before charging you.

We may decline an order, for example where it appears to be fraudulent or placed in breach of these Legal Terms. If we decline an order you have already paid for, we refund it in full.

6. SUBSCRIPTIONS

7. PROHIBITED ACTIVITIES

You may not access or use the Services for any purpose other than that for which we make the Services available. Running award programs, including charging entry fees, offering sponsorships and publishing results, is a use for which we make the Services available.

As a user of the Services, you agree not to:

• Systematically retrieve data or other content from the Services to create or compile, directly or indirectly, a collection, compilation, database, or directory without written permission from us.
• Trick, defraud, or mislead us and other users, especially in any attempt to learn sensitive account information such as user passwords.
• Circumvent, disable, or otherwise interfere with security-related features of the Services, including features that prevent or restrict the use or copying of any Content or enforce limitations on the use of the Services and/or the Content contained therein.
• Use any information obtained from the Services in order to harass, abuse, or harm another person.
• Make improper use of our support services or submit false reports of abuse or misconduct.
• Use the Services in a manner inconsistent with any applicable laws or regulations.
• Engage in unauthorized framing of the Services.
• Upload or transmit (or attempt to upload or to transmit) viruses, Trojan horses, or other material, including spam, that interferes with any party's uninterrupted use and enjoyment of the Services or modifies, impairs, disrupts, alters, or interferes with the use, features, functions, operation, or maintenance of the Services.
• Engage in any automated use of the system, such as using scripts to send comments or messages, or using any data mining, robots, or similar data gathering and extraction tools, other than with our written permission.
• Delete the copyright or other proprietary rights notice from any Content.
• Attempt to impersonate another user or person or use the username of another user.
• Upload or transmit (or attempt to upload or to transmit) any material that acts as a passive or active information collection or transmission mechanism, including without limitation, clear graphics interchange formats ("gifs"), 1×1 pixels, web bugs, cookies, or other similar devices (sometimes referred to as "spyware" or "passive collection mechanisms" or "pcms").
• Interfere with, disrupt, or create an undue burden on the Services or the networks or services connected to the Services.
• Harass, annoy, intimidate, or threaten any of our employees or agents engaged in providing any portion of the Services to you.
• Attempt to bypass any measures of the Services designed to prevent or restrict access to the Services, or any portion of the Services.
• Copy or adapt the Services' software, including but not limited to HTML, JavaScript, or other code.
• Except as permitted by applicable law, decipher, decompile, disassemble, or reverse engineer any of the software comprising or in any way making up a part of the Services.
• Except as may be the result of standard search engine or Internet browser usage, use, launch, develop, or distribute any automated system, including without limitation, any spider, robot, cheat utility, scraper, or offline reader that accesses the Services, or use or launch any unauthorized script or other software, other than with our written permission.
• Make any unauthorized use of the Services, including collecting usernames and/or email addresses of users by electronic or other means for the purpose of sending unsolicited email, or creating user accounts by automated means or under false pretenses.
• Use the Services to build or help build a competing product.
• Sell or otherwise transfer your profile.
• Use the Services to send advertising or offers unrelated to an award program.

8. USER GENERATED CONTRIBUTIONS

Contributions, as defined in section 2, are visible to the people the organizer of the program gives access to, and to the public only where the organizer publishes them. When you create or make available any Contributions, you represent and warrant that:

• Your Contributions do not infringe or misappropriate any third party's copyright, patent, trademark, trade secret or other intellectual property rights, or anyone's privacy or publicity rights.
• You are the creator and owner of your Contributions, or have the licenses, rights, consents and permissions needed for them to be used as the program they belong to contemplates, including for any identifiable person they show or name.
• Your Contributions are not unlawful, defamatory or obscene, and do not violate any law intended to protect minors.
• Your Contributions are not used to harass, threaten or promote violence against any person or group.
• Your Contributions contain no viruses or other malicious code, and are not unsolicited advertising, pyramid schemes, chain letters or spam.

Any use of the Services in violation of the foregoing violates these Legal Terms and may result in, among other things, termination or suspension of your rights to use the Services.

9. CONTRIBUTION LICENSE

The license you give us over your Contributions is the one set out in section 2. It is not transferable except to a successor to our business that continues the Services under these Legal Terms, and we may share Contributions with the service providers listed in our Data Processing Agreement only to provide the Services.

For an entry submitted by an entrant under 18, or naming an entrant under 18 as a team member, we never use the entry for advertising, promotion, or any purpose unrelated to the program it was entered in, as described in section 10 of our Privacy Policy.

We do not assert any ownership over your Contributions. You retain full ownership of all of your Contributions and any intellectual property rights or other proprietary rights associated with your Contributions. We are not liable for any statements or representations in your Contributions, and you are solely responsible for your Contributions to the Services.

We have no obligation to monitor your Contributions. Organizers decide how entries are organized, reviewed and published within their programs.

10. THIRD-PARTY WEBSITES AND CONTENT

The Services may contain (or you may be sent via the Site) links to other websites ("Third-Party Websites") as well as articles, photographs, text, graphics, pictures, designs, music, sound, video, information, applications, software, and other content or items belonging to or originating from third parties ("Third-Party Content"). Such Third-Party Websites and Third-Party Content are not investigated, monitored, or checked for accuracy, appropriateness, or completeness by us, and we are not responsible for any Third-Party Websites accessed through the Services or any Third-Party Content posted on, available through, or installed from the Services, including the content, accuracy, offensiveness, opinions, reliability, privacy practices, or other policies of or contained in the Third-Party Websites or the Third-Party Content. Inclusion of, linking to, or permitting the use or installation of any Third-Party Websites or any Third-Party Content does not imply approval or endorsement thereof by us. If you decide to leave the Services and access the Third-Party Websites or to use or install any Third-Party Content, you do so at your own risk, and you should be aware these Legal Terms no longer govern. You should review the applicable terms and policies, including privacy and data gathering practices, of any website to which you navigate from the Services or relating to any applications you use or install from the Services. Any purchases you make through Third-Party Websites will be through other websites and from other companies, and we take no responsibility whatsoever in relation to such purchases which are exclusively between you and the applicable third party. You agree and acknowledge that we do not endorse the products or services offered on Third-Party Websites and you shall hold us blameless from any harm caused by your purchase of such products or services. Additionally, you shall hold us blameless from any losses sustained by you or harm caused to you relating to or resulting in any way from any Third-Party Content or any contact with Third-Party Websites.

11. SERVICES MANAGEMENT

We reserve the right, but not the obligation, to: (1) monitor the Services for violations of these Legal Terms; (2) take appropriate legal action against anyone who, in our sole discretion, violates the law or these Legal Terms, including without limitation, reporting such user to law enforcement authorities; (3) refuse, restrict access to, limit the availability of, or disable (to the extent technologically feasible) any of your Contributions that we reasonably believe are unlawful or in breach of these Legal Terms, telling the organizer as set out in section 2; (4) in our sole discretion and after notice to the organization, to remove from the Services or otherwise disable files and content that are excessive in size or are in any way burdensome to our systems; and (5) otherwise manage the Services in a manner designed to protect our rights and property and to facilitate the proper functioning of the Services.

12. PRIVACY POLICY

We care about data privacy and security. Please review our Privacy Policy: https://awardkit.io/privacy-policy. By using the Services, you agree to be bound by our Privacy Policy, which is incorporated into these Legal Terms. Where you use the Services to collect personal data from entrants, judges or voters, you are the controller of that data and we process it on your behalf under our Data Processing Agreement, published at https://awardkit.io/dpa, which is also incorporated into these Legal Terms. Please be advised the Services are hosted in the United States. If you access the Services from any other region of the world with laws or other requirements governing personal data collection, use, or disclosure that differ from applicable laws in the United States, then through your continued use of the Services, you are transferring your data to the United States, and you expressly consent to have your data transferred to and processed in the United States, subject to section 12 of our Data Processing Agreement.

13. COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENTS

We respect the intellectual property rights of others. If you believe that any material available on or through the Services infringes upon any copyright you own or control, please immediately notify us using the contact information provided below (a "Notification"). A copy of your Notification will be sent to the person who posted or stored the material addressed in the Notification. Please be advised that pursuant to applicable law you may be held liable for damages if you make material misrepresentations in a Notification. Thus, if you are not sure that material located on or linked to by the Services infringes your copyright, you should consider first contacting an attorney. In appropriate circumstances, we end the accounts of users who repeatedly infringe the copyright of others.

14. TERM AND TERMINATION

These Legal Terms shall remain in full force and effect while you use the Services.

Suspension for misuse: We may suspend or end access to the Services for a person who breaches these Legal Terms or applicable law, or whose use puts the Services, other users or their data at risk. Where we can do so without increasing that risk, we tell the organization account first and give it a chance to fix the problem.

Ending a paid subscription: We may end an organization's subscription for a material breach of these Legal Terms that is not cured within 30 days of our written notice. We may also end it for any other reason with at least 60 days' written notice, in which case we refund the unused part of the paid term.

Your data: If a paid subscription ends without the account being closed, the organization's data stays available in free build mode. Features that require an active subscription, such as taking programs live, accepting entries or opening a new cycle, may stop when the subscription ends. When an organization closes its account, or asks us in writing, we return its data or let it export it, and delete it within 30 days, as set out in our Data Processing Agreement. We do not delete an organization's data without notice, except where the law requires it.

If we terminate or suspend your account for a breach, you are prohibited from registering and creating a new account under your name, a fake or borrowed name, or the name of any third party, even if you may be acting on behalf of the third party. In addition to terminating or suspending your account, we reserve the right to take appropriate legal action, including without limitation pursuing civil, criminal, and injunctive redress.

What survives: Section 2 (the license over Contributions only until they are deleted as described there, and the license over Suggestions), section 5 (amounts owed), and sections 13, 16 to 22 and 25 survive the end of these Legal Terms.

15. MODIFICATIONS AND INTERRUPTIONS

We improve and change the Services over time. If we remove a feature listed on our pricing page for the plan an organization has paid for, or discontinue the Services, we give paid organizations at least 60 days' notice, the means to export their data, and, if the Services are discontinued, a refund of the unused part of the paid term.

We cannot guarantee the Services will be available at all times. We may experience hardware, software, or other problems or need to perform maintenance related to the Services, resulting in interruptions, delays, or errors. We reserve the right to change, revise or update the Services for maintenance and security, and we aim to do so without interrupting programs that are open for entries or judging. You agree that we have no liability for any loss, damage, or inconvenience caused by your inability to access or use the Services during any downtime, subject to the first-cycle guarantee in section 6.

16. GOVERNING LAW

These Legal Terms and your use of the Services are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of California applicable to agreements made and to be entirely performed within the State of California, without regard to its conflict of law principles.

17. DISPUTE RESOLUTION

18. CORRECTIONS

There may be information on the Services that contains typographical errors, inaccuracies, or omissions, including descriptions, pricing, availability, and various other information. We reserve the right to correct any errors, inaccuracies, or omissions and to change or update the information on the Services at any time, without prior notice. Pricing errors in an order are handled as set out in section 5.

19. DISCLAIMER

EXCEPT AS EXPRESSLY SET OUT IN THESE LEGAL TERMS AND OUR DATA PROCESSING AGREEMENT, THE SERVICES ARE PROVIDED ON AN AS-IS AND AS-AVAILABLE BASIS. YOU AGREE THAT YOUR USE OF THE SERVICES WILL BE AT YOUR SOLE RISK. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, WE DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN CONNECTION WITH THE SERVICES AND YOUR USE THEREOF, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. WE MAKE NO WARRANTIES OR REPRESENTATIONS ABOUT THE ACCURACY OR COMPLETENESS OF THE SERVICES' CONTENT OR THE CONTENT OF ANY WEBSITES OR MOBILE APPLICATIONS LINKED TO THE SERVICES AND WE WILL ASSUME NO LIABILITY OR RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY (1) ERRORS, MISTAKES, OR INACCURACIES OF CONTENT AND MATERIALS, (2) PERSONAL INJURY OR PROPERTY DAMAGE, OF ANY NATURE WHATSOEVER, RESULTING FROM YOUR ACCESS TO AND USE OF THE SERVICES, (3) ANY INTERRUPTION OR CESSATION OF TRANSMISSION TO OR FROM THE SERVICES, (4) ANY BUGS, VIRUSES, TROJAN HORSES, OR THE LIKE WHICH MAY BE TRANSMITTED TO OR THROUGH THE SERVICES BY ANY THIRD PARTY, AND/OR (5) ANY ERRORS OR OMISSIONS IN ANY CONTENT AND MATERIALS OR FOR ANY LOSS OR DAMAGE OF ANY KIND INCURRED AS A RESULT OF THE USE OF ANY CONTENT POSTED, TRANSMITTED, OR OTHERWISE MADE AVAILABLE VIA THE SERVICES. WE DO NOT WARRANT, ENDORSE, GUARANTEE, OR ASSUME RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY PRODUCT OR SERVICE ADVERTISED OR OFFERED BY A THIRD PARTY THROUGH THE SERVICES, ANY HYPERLINKED WEBSITE, OR ANY WEBSITE OR MOBILE APPLICATION LINKED FROM THE SERVICES, AND WE WILL NOT BE A PARTY TO OR IN ANY WAY BE RESPONSIBLE FOR MONITORING ANY TRANSACTION BETWEEN YOU AND ANY THIRD-PARTY PROVIDERS OF PRODUCTS OR SERVICES. AS WITH THE PURCHASE OF A PRODUCT OR SERVICE THROUGH ANY MEDIUM OR IN ANY ENVIRONMENT, YOU SHOULD USE YOUR BEST JUDGMENT AND EXERCISE CAUTION WHERE APPROPRIATE.

20. LIMITATIONS OF LIABILITY

IN NO EVENT WILL WE OR OUR DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, OR AGENTS BE LIABLE TO YOU OR ANY THIRD PARTY FOR ANY INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, INCLUDING LOST PROFIT, LOST REVENUE, LOSS OF DATA, OR OTHER DAMAGES ARISING FROM YOUR USE OF THE SERVICES, EVEN IF WE HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. NOTWITHSTANDING ANYTHING TO THE CONTRARY CONTAINED HEREIN, OUR LIABILITY TO YOU FOR ANY CAUSE WHATSOEVER AND REGARDLESS OF THE FORM OF THE ACTION, WILL AT ALL TIMES BE LIMITED TO THE LESSER OF THE AMOUNT PAID, IF ANY, BY YOU TO US DURING THE six (6) MONTH PERIOD PRIOR TO ANY CAUSE OF ACTION ARISING OR $1,000.00 USD. CERTAIN US STATE LAWS AND INTERNATIONAL LAWS DO NOT ALLOW LIMITATIONS ON IMPLIED WARRANTIES OR THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF CERTAIN DAMAGES. IF THESE LAWS APPLY TO YOU, SOME OR ALL OF THE ABOVE DISCLAIMERS OR LIMITATIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU, AND YOU MAY HAVE ADDITIONAL RIGHTS.

21. INDEMNIFICATION

You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold us harmless, including our subsidiaries, affiliates, and all of our respective officers, agents, partners, and employees, from and against any loss, damage, liability, claim, or demand, including reasonable attorneys' fees and expenses, made by any third party due to or arising out of: (1) your Contributions; (2) use of the Services; (3) breach of these Legal Terms; (4) any breach of your representations and warranties set forth in these Legal Terms; (5) your violation of the rights of a third party, including but not limited to intellectual property rights; or (6) any overt harmful act toward any other user of the Services with whom you connected via the Services. Notwithstanding the foregoing, we reserve the right, at your expense, to assume the exclusive defense and control of any matter for which you are required to indemnify us, and you agree to cooperate, at your expense, with our defense of such claims. We will use reasonable efforts to notify you of any such claim, action, or proceeding which is subject to this indemnification upon becoming aware of it.

22. USER DATA

We keep the data you transmit to the Services to provide the Services, and we back it up as described in Annex II of our Data Processing Agreement. Where you use the Services to collect personal data from entrants, judges or voters, we process it under our Data Processing Agreement. Organizations can export their entries, scores and feedback at any time from their dashboard, and we recommend keeping your own copy of anything you cannot afford to lose.

23. ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS, TRANSACTIONS, AND SIGNATURES

Visiting the Services, sending us emails, and completing online forms constitute electronic communications. You consent to receive electronic communications, and you agree that all agreements, notices, disclosures, and other communications we provide to you electronically, via email and on the Services, satisfy any legal requirement that such communication be in writing. YOU HEREBY AGREE TO THE USE OF ELECTRONIC SIGNATURES, CONTRACTS, ORDERS, AND OTHER RECORDS, AND TO ELECTRONIC DELIVERY OF NOTICES, POLICIES, AND RECORDS OF TRANSACTIONS INITIATED OR COMPLETED BY US OR VIA THE SERVICES. You hereby waive any rights or requirements under any statutes, regulations, rules, ordinances, or other laws in any jurisdiction which require an original signature or delivery or retention of non-electronic records, or to payments or the granting of credits by any means other than electronic means.

24. CALIFORNIA USERS AND RESIDENTS

If any complaint with us is not satisfactorily resolved, you can contact the Complaint Assistance Unit of the Division of Consumer Services of the California Department of Consumer Affairs in writing at 1625 North Market Blvd., Suite N 112, Sacramento, California 95834 or by telephone at (800) 952-5210 or (916) 445-1254.

25. MISCELLANEOUS

Changes to these Legal Terms: We may update these Legal Terms. We give organization owners at least 30 days' notice of a material change by email. For a paid term, a material change applies from the next renewal, unless the law requires it sooner or the change is needed for security. A written agreement signed by both parties can be changed only by a further written agreement signed by both parties.

Confidentiality: Each party will use the other's non-public information, including unpublished entries, scores and results, and the terms of any order, only to perform under these Legal Terms, and will protect it with at least reasonable care. This does not apply to information that is or becomes public through no fault of the receiving party, that it already knew or developed independently, or that the law requires it to disclose, in which case it gives prompt notice where the law allows. Personal data is protected as set out in our Data Processing Agreement.

Order of precedence: If documents conflict, this order applies: a written agreement signed by both parties; our Data Processing Agreement, for personal data; these Legal Terms; the invoice or order; and any other policy we post.

These Legal Terms, together with the documents listed above, constitute the entire agreement and understanding between you and us. Our failure to exercise or enforce any right or provision of these Legal Terms shall not operate as a waiver of such right or provision. These Legal Terms operate to the fullest extent permissible by law. We may assign our rights and obligations only to a successor to our business that continues the Services under these Legal Terms. We shall not be responsible or liable for any loss, damage, delay, or failure to act caused by any cause beyond our reasonable control. If any provision or part of a provision of these Legal Terms is determined to be unlawful, void, or unenforceable, that provision or part of the provision is deemed severable from these Legal Terms and does not affect the validity and enforceability of any remaining provisions. There is no joint venture, partnership, employment or agency relationship created between you and us as a result of these Legal Terms or use of the Services. You agree that these Legal Terms will not be construed against us by virtue of having drafted them. You hereby waive any and all defenses you may have based on the electronic form of these Legal Terms and the lack of signing by the parties hereto to execute these Legal Terms.

26. CONTACT US

In order to resolve a complaint regarding the Services or to receive further information regarding use of the Services, please contact us at: