General Terms & Conditions 
Evens Foundation Hackathon

1. Scope 

1.1. These general terms and conditions (the “General Conditions”) are applicable to the event organised on December 2 and 3, 2023 (“Hackathon”) by the company Westartup BVBA, a company incorporated in accordance with the Laws of Belgium, with registered office at Brusselsesteenweg 18A, 1730 Asse (Belgium), registered at the Crossroad Bank for Enterprises under company number 0824.045.583  (“Westartup”), on behalf of the Evens Foundation (Stichting Evens), with the registered office at Frankrijklei 37 Bus 12, 2000, Antwerp, and registered under company number 0445.135.671. Collectively, Westartup and Evens Foundation will be referred to as “Organisers”.  

1.2. Evens Foundation aims to bring more young voters to the voting booths in the 2024 elections by developing and launching one or more new digital tools or campaigns designed to address different barriers to participation in elections that young people face.  
  

To that end, the Hackathon aims to generate and quickly validate prototypes of such tools and campaigns. The most promising concept would be funded by the board of Evens Foundation, including development, translation and promotion.  

1.3. These General Conditions are applicable to all Hackathon’s participants (the "Participants"). Applying to participate in the Hackathon automatically entails acceptance of the General Conditions and waiver of the participant’s own terms and conditions.  

2. Interpretation 

2.1. Words denoting the singular shall include the plural and vice versa. Grammatical variants of a defined term shall have the meaning set out in the relevant definition as adjusted to reflect reasonably the variance and the context of the use of the variant. The words "include", "included" or "including" are used to indicate that the matters listed are not a complete enumeration of all matters covered.  

2.2. The headings in these General Conditions are for construction purposes as well as for reference.   

2.3. No provision of these General Conditions shall be interpreted adversely against a party solely because that party was responsible for drafting that particular provision. 

2.4. These General Conditions are drawn up in the English language. If these General Conditions are translated into another language, the English-language text prevails. 

3. Participation in the Hackathon 

3.1. The Hackathon is open to all participants (“Participants”) who are 18 years of age or above. 

3.2 The event is free for the Participants. Further, Organisers will provide Participants with food and drinks throughout the event, as well as work space outfitted with seating, power supply and access to restroom facilities, monitors or screens, and Wi-Fi. Accessibility considerations will be made to the extent possible. 

3.3. The Participant acknowledges that all various costs or expenses directly or indirectly related with the participation to the Hackathon will remain the sole responsibility of the Participant. 

4. Applying to participate in the Hackathon  

4.1. Applicants wishing to participate in the Hackathon must complete the online application form on https://form.typeform.com/to/qRhpFNpV 

4.2. By submitting their application, all Participants accept the event Terms and Conditions as listed in this document and grant consent for the handling of their personal information by the Organisers in accordance with the Organisers’ respective privacy policies.  

4.3. Applications will be reviewed based on the merit of the information submitted in the application form. Selected applicants shall receive communication  from the Organisers confirming participation before the event start date.  

4.4. Applicants selected for participation in the Hackathon will sign a Declaration of Honour confirming their intention to participate.   

4.5. Participants guarantee that the personal information provided upon registration to the Organisers is true and accurate, with no liability being attributed to the Organisers in the event of any falsification and/or inaccuracy.   

5. Cancellation of participation or no-show  

5.1. Participants are entitled to cancelling their participation up to one week prior to the event date (December 2, 2024) by emailing the organisers at team@hackbelgium.be  

5.2. Participants cancelling less one week before the event day, or failing to join the event without timely cancellation will be charged EUR 100 penalty by the Organisers.   6. Hardware & IT Tools 

6.1. The Participants shall bring their own hardware (i.e. computer, extension cord, power bars, etc.) and software ("Devices").  

6.2. Though security will be provided at the event venue, the Participants shall be solely responsible for their Devices. The Organisers disclaim and could never be deemed liable or responsible in the event of theft, loss or deterioration of Devices.  

6.3.  The Organisers might lend Devices to the Participant (i.e. extension cord, power bars, etc.) during the Evens Foundation Hackathon. Participants acknowledge that the aforementioned IT Tools remain the sole property of the Organisers or their subcontractors.   

 6.4. Participants waive any claims for defective Devices put at the disposition of its Participant by the Organisers. 7. Intellectual Property Rights The Hackathon is an Open, contributive event created for the public good. To that end, the following principles apply with regards to the intellectual property rights (IPR): Everyone keeps what they own already. 

The Hackathon is an open, public space. Recognition of contributions is essential. Results will be available for anyone who would like to use them.   What does that mean in practice? 

7.1. Everyone keeps what they own already: all participants have or may have pre-existing Intellectual Property Rights. This can be ideas, know-how, trade secrets, copyright in code, sometimes even a patent or an application, and brands, logos, etc. We call this “Pre-Existing IP”.   

All Pre-Existing IP remains owned by its owner, and nothing that happens during the Hackathon can be considered as a transfer or assignment of such Pre-Existing IP. In addition, the fact of showing something that is covered by an IP right (say, showing some code that is covered by your software copyright) does not imply that anyone can copy that or use it freely without your approval – you retain your Pre-Existing IP on that. 

7.2. The Hackathon is an open, public space: any information uploaded in an application, discussed in a group or even private meeting, or otherwise shared, is to be considered disclosed to a public space. This means that if you are under a duty of confidentiality of certain information, you should not disclose that during The Hackathon. This does not prevent anyone from signing a specific confidentiality agreement for specific, identifiable, information that is otherwise not communicated to any other Participant. 

That being said, it is important to understand that generic ideas are almost never covered by IP or protectable. Only as the idea gets more specific and starts being converted into an actual application, IP protection will start to apply.  

7.3. Attribution is essential: throughout the event, teams will develop ideas. The content of ideas as well as the persons making up the teams may, and probably will, change throughout the event. 
 

Ideas can be tracked by the Organisers throughout the event. Not later than at the end of the event, both the idea and the identity of the individuals who have contributed to it will be finally identified. It is important that all individuals who contribute to an idea get a fair mention. For the purpose of this attribution, every contributor’s share is considered equal. 

The effect of attribution is NOT to allow any contributor (Participant) or their employer to block the use of a particular idea to which they have contributed, but rather to allow all contributors to that idea to use and develop it further. This attribution does not entail the creation or transfer of rights (such as IPRs).  Such transfer may however be the object of negotiations between Participants. 

All Participants who contribute to a new creation are entitled to get a fair mention. For the purpose of this attribution, every contributing Participant’s share will be considered equal. 

The Participants may but are not obliged to mention third parties, such as experts, who have contributed to the idea(s) or the results of the team. 

Should the results of the Hackathon be developed in products or services, commercialized by one or more Partners or their employers, it shall mention that such product or service is a result from of the Hackathon.  The terms of such mention shall be agreed between Participants or their employers and Organisers. 

7.4. Results of the Hackathon are available for anyone who would like to use them.  

The Hackathon aims to encourage participation of as many people as possible in the democratic process. To that end, Participants are encouraged to share their ideas with the world through their own social media networks, to upload their code to open code repositories with a Creative Commons license (such as Attribution 4.0 International), etc.   

7.5. No verification or liability for IP: the Organisers will not police or verify whether Participants have the appropriate rights to participate in the event from an IP perspective, nor will it take on any liability in respect of any breach or alleged breach of any Intellectual Property Right by or from any Participant or any third party. 

Equally, the Organisers have no liability in respect of the IP of any of the ideas or projects mentioned, generated or attributed throughout the event.  

For the purposes of these General Conditions, intellectual property rights shall means (i) copyright, patents, database rights and rights in trade marks, designs, know-how and trade secrets (whether registered or unregistered), (ii) applications for registration, and the right to apply for registration, for any of these rights and, (iii) all other intellectual property rights and equivalent or similar forms of protection existing anywhere in the world ("Intellectual Property Rights"). 

8. Hackathon Winners 

8.1. One or more teams of Participants may be awarded a prize by the Evens Foundation: funds to further develop their project(s) emerging from the Hackathon.  

8.2. Winning teams will be selected by Evens Foundation or by the jury appointed by Evens Foundation.   

8.3. The exact process for awarding the funds will be regulated by a separate agreement between Evens Foundation and the teams of participants.  

9. Liability and limitation of liability 

9.1. Organisers will use reasonable efforts to perform its obligations under the General Terms and Conditions.   

9.2. Organisers shall not be liable for  
 

(i) any late, lost, delayed, stolen, misdirected, incomplete, unreadable, inaccurate, garbled or unintelligible entries, communications or submissions, regardless of the method of transmission,  
 

(ii) Wi-Fi connection, Devices or technical or computer malfunctions, lost connections, disconnections, delays or transmission errors,  
 

(iii) data corruption, theft, destruction, unauthorized access to or alteration of entry or other materials,  

(iv) any injuries, losses or damages of any kind caused by participating to the Hackathon, and for  
 

(v) any printing, typographical, administrative or technological errors in any materials associated with Evens Foundation Hackathon. 

9.3.  Organisers disclaim any liability for damage to any device resulting from participating in, or accessing, uploading or downloading information in connection with the Hackathon. 

In any case, organisers’ liability shall not cover any indirect damages (such as loss of profit, loss of revenue, loss of opportunity, loss of data, reputational damage).  

9.4. Participants will be held liable for any damage caused to other Participants, their property, property of the Organisers or their subcontractors such as event venue. The Organisers will not be held liable or responsible for any damages which may occur to any personal belongings to Participant(s) including but not limited to damages and theft. 

9.5. Organisers waive any liability, in case of modification, shortening or cancellation of the Hackathon due to force majeure or event beyond its control.  

Similarly, it is entitled to the same in case of virus, bug, computer or phone problems, unauthorized interventions or other causes beyond the Organisers’ control, corrupt, threatened the administration, security or proper running of the Hackathon. 

9.6. The Organisers reserve the right to extend or reschedule the Hackathon. 

10. Personal Data 

10.1. The Participant agrees with the registration and the processing by the Organisers of their personal data ("Personal Data"), under the condition that this only concerns Personal Data obtained within the scope of the Hackathon, and that the processing of said Personal Data is carried out only for the purposes of the Hackathon, the promotion and development of the projects emerging from the Hackathon, and the follow-up of the Hackathon via personalized information campaigns and direct marketing, including via email.  

10.2. The Participant hereby consents to such use and communication Personal Data by the Organisers and entities related with them for these purpose, or to any other person pursuant to a legal obligation or in the event of a legitimate interest.  

10.3. The access to the Personal Data shall be restricted to the persons requiring them for the fulfilment of their tasks.  

10.4. The Participants have a right of access to Personal Data concerning them, as well as a right to adjust incorrect Personal Data. They also have the right to oppose to the processing of Personal Data concerning themselves, at their request and free of charge, insofar the processing takes place for commercial prospecting or direct marketing purposes.  

10.5. westartup is the controller of the abovementioned Personal Data in the way of article 2, d) of Directive no 95/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 October 1995 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of Personal Data and on the free movement of such data1. 

11. Use & Image Rights 

11.1. The Participants grant the Organisers, without any compensation, the right to use their image, their last name, first name and brief descriptions of the project led by the Participant or their team for commercial or internal/external publications’ purposes in the framework of the Hackathon ("Use").  

11.2. This Use includes collection, storage, retention, unlimited reproductions, publications and distribution in printed, electronic and digital media, including, but not limited to, advertising and brochures, video and audio broadcast programs, and website, social media and online communications worldwide and for a ninety-nine (99) years duration starting as from the Hackathon’s opening date.  

11.3. Pursuant to the General Data Protection Regulation, each Participant is entitled to withdraw their consent. The Participant can exercise their rights in accordance with the data protection policy that will be brought to his/her attention. 

12. Term and Termination 

12.1. The General Terms and Conditions enter into force when the Participant has registered for participation on the Hackathon’s website. The contract ends after Evens Foundation Hackathon has taken place on December 2 and 3, 2023. 

12.2. The participation of Participant to Evens Foundation Hackathon will be suspended in case the Participant on behalf of Participants do not respect the General Terms and Conditions or the guidelines communicated during the Event or in case the Participants do not behave in accordance with general standards of constructiveness or politeness. Suspension shall disqualify the Participant from the right to participate in the development of a project beyond the Hackathon.   

13. Miscellaneous 

13.1. Any provision in these General Conditions which is void or inapplicable shall have no effect on the validity of the other provisions. In such a case, each party shall use its reasonable best efforts to immediately negotiate in good faith a valid replacement provision having a similar economic effect which is as close as possible to that of the invalid, void or unenforceable provision. 

13.2. These General Conditions are governed by and shall be construed and interpreted in accordance with the Laws of Belgium, excluding any provisions of private international law that would result in foreign law to be applicable. 

13.3. Any dispute arising from the interpretation, performance or cancellation of these General Conditions shall be submitted exclusively to the jurisdiction of the courts of Brussels – Dutch speaking division.