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  •   over 3 years ago

Exploitative "commercial" licensing clause in rules

There's not even prizes for this, yet you've made it so that you can MAKE MONEY off of people's submissions. You really should remove the "commercial" part of this clause. If you've already entered under previous rules, sorry but now they can make $$$ from your submission.

"By submitting a Submission, you grant Sponsor and the #BuildforCOVID19 Global Online Hackathon an irrevocable, royalty-free, non-exclusive, worldwide right and license to use, distribute to the public, and publicly display and perform your Submission in any media, for any non-commercial or commercial purpose. "

The people running this raised $220 million for their VC fund, Slow Ventures, but couldn't be bothered to put up one red cent for prizes. They're in it to feel good about themselves.

https://techcrunch.com/2019/04/11/slow-ventures-raises-220m-for-two-new-funds/

POST HACKATHON: One of their 'winners' told me they got a whole 10 extra views from being a winner.

The people running this got to put up a big list of 'participating orgs' and link it back to their VC fund to get better PR.

  • 4 comments

  •   •   over 3 years ago

    _Submissions and their associated intellectual property rights will remain under the sole or joint ownership of their inventor(s); neither Sponsor nor any co-sponsors or promoters of the #BuildforCOVID19 Global Online Hackathon make any claim to ownership of submissions. We encourage participants to open source their projects to both share their hacks with the greater community and to promote innovation in this space.

    We, along with all parties involved in the development of the #BuildforCOVID19 Global Online Hackathon, reserve the right to use all participating teams’ and/or individuals’ names and likenesses in any publicity statements or events, including internet and website posts or articles, regarding the #BuildforCOVID19 Global Online or the party’s involvement therewith.

    By submitting a Submission, you grant Sponsor and the #BuildforCOVID19 Global Online Hackathon an irrevocable, royalty-free, non-exclusive, worldwide right and license to use, distribute to the public, and publicly display and perform your Submission in any media, for any non-commercial or commercial purpose.

    Your Submission may be posted on a public website. We are not responsible for any unauthorized use of your Submission by visitors to this website.

    You will not receive any compensation or credit for the above use of your Submission, other than what is described in these Official Rules.

    By entering the Hackathon you acknowledge that Sponsor and/or the co-sponsors or promoters of the Hackathon may have developed or commissioned materials similar or identical to your Submission and you acknowledge and agree that neither Sponsor nor any co-sponsors or promoters has now and will not have in the future any duty or liability (direct or indirect, vicarious, contributory, or otherwise) with respect to the infringement or protection of your or any third party’s patent, copyright or other proprietary rights in and to their content. Further you understand that we will not restrict work assignments of representatives who have had access to your Submission._

    I mean, it's a poorly worded legalese mostly connected to providing the service — "publicly display and perform" (i.e. using the materials of your submission in marketing or journalistic materials) and then an indemnification clause in case they're already building something similar.

    Sounds spooky, but fairly standard stuff.

  •   •   over 3 years ago

    The "commercial" part could be easily removed. The fact that they won't and are fighting it should tell you a lot.

  • Manager   •   over 3 years ago

    Hey all, thanks for bringing this to our attention!

    We have removed any commercial right from our rules & have changed any of the wording that would suggest that. Our goal is to share the projects widely & connect as many projects as possible with people & organizations who can support them.

  • Manager   •   over 3 years ago

    Glad we were able to work with the participating organizations and make this change. It was never intended in an aggressive or negative way... just a boiler plate CYA.... but thx for binging it to everyone's attention and glad we could resolve!

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