Official Contest Rules: Hatch Detroit

Please read these Official Rules carefully before entering the Comerica Hatch Detroit Contest by TechTown (“Contest”). By entering the Contest, you agree that you have read, and are bound by, the terms and conditions set forth below as if you had actually signed them. If you do not agree to the terms and conditions set forth below, you may not enter the Contest. By entering the Contest, you acknowledge and agree that these Official Rules are a legally binding contract between you and TechTown Detroit. TechTown Detroit may modify the terms and conditions of these Official Rules as described below, and you agree to familiarize yourself with any modifications.

1. Void Where Prohibited or Restricted by Law: All federal, state and local regulations apply to the Contest. The Contest is void in any Country, or Federal or State jurisdiction where it is prohibited by law or regulation.
2. Sponsor/Eligibility: The Contest is sponsored by TechTown Detroit, a Michigan nonprofit corporation. The Contest is open only to legal residents of the United States and the District of Columbia, and who are residing therein, and who are 18 years of age or older as of the time of entry. Employees, officers, and directors of TechTown Detroit or Comerica, Inc., and members of the immediate families of such persons (spouses, children, siblings, parents, and/or persons living in the same household as such persons, whether or not related), are not eligible to enter the Contest.
3. Contest and Official Rules Subject to Modification by TechTown Detroit: The Contest and these Official Rules are subject to modification, cancellation, or limitation at TechTown Detroit’s sole discretion, with or without notice, including to persons who have already entered the Contest. All changes or modification of the Contest or these Official Rules will be posted on this Website.
4. General Conditions of Participation in This Contest: Except where prohibited by law, all entries that are selected as one of the 10 or more semifinalists permit TechTown Detroit and its affiliates to use, without notice or further compensation, worldwide and in perpetuity in any and all forms of media, now known and hereafter devised, such winner’s name, likeness, pictures, photographs, voice, biographical information, and statements for purposes of advertising, trade, promotion, and publicity. Once submitted, all information on submission forms, not just those of the semifinalists, become the property of TechTown Detroit and will not be returned.
5. Disqualification: TechTown Detroit reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to disqualify any individual it (or its authorized designee hosting the Website) finds to be: (i) tampering with the entry process or otherwise tampering with the operation of the Contest, the Website, or any web page or web banner ad related to the Contest; (ii) acting in violation of the Official Rules; (iii) acting in a non-sportsmanlike or disruptive manner, or with intent to annoy, abuse, threaten, harass, harm, mislead, or defraud any other individual or entity; or (iv) otherwise in violation of law as solely determined by TechTown Detroit. Any person attempting to defraud TechTown Detroit or the other contestants or in any way tamper with the Contest will be ineligible to compete in the Contest or win a prize and TechTown Detroit may seek any and all remedies available to it, including, if appropriate, filing complaints with legal authorities.
6. Website or Contest Corruption: If for any reason the Contest is not capable of running as planned or if in the sole discretion of TechTown Detroit, the administration, security, fairness, integrity, or proper conduct of this contest is corrupted or adversely affected, TechTown Detroit reserves the right to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend the Contest.
7. Limitation of Liability: TechTown Detroit is not responsible or liable for entries that are illegible, late, forged, destroyed, lost, misplaced, stolen, misdirected, tampered with, incomplete, deleted, damaged, garbled, altered, or otherwise not in compliance with these Official Rules, whether caused by TechTown Detroit, the entrant, or anyone else.
8. Entrants’ Own Work: Your submission must be entirely your (or in the case of a team effort, your team’s) own original creation and must not infringe upon or violate any laws or any rights of third parties, including, but not limited to, such violations as infringement of copyright, patent, trademark, trade secret or other proprietary or property right, libel, defamation, violation of rights of privacy, publicity, personality or celebrity, or any contract right, or any other right of any individual, corporation or entity. Entrants must obtain all necessary permissions, licenses, clearances, releases, waivers of moral rights and other approvals from third parties (including but not limited to all copyright holders and all individuals appearing in a video submission), necessary to use the submission, in whole or in part, in any way, including without limitation, to reproduce, make derivatives, edit, modify, translate, distribute, transmit, publish, license and broadcast worldwide, by any means. Any and all such permission, licenses, clearances, releases, waivers of moral rights and approvals must be provided to TechTown Detroit upon its request. TechTown Detroit shall not be responsible to a third-party for any entrant’s failure to comply with this provision, and each entrant agrees to indemnify TechTown Detroit for any such claim.
9. Affidavit & Release: As a condition of being awarded a prize, the winner may be required to execute and deliver to TechTown Detroit a signed Affidavit of Eligibility, which includes an acceptance of these Official Rules and a release of liability.
10. Obligations of Winner: As a condition of being awarded a prize, the winner of the Contest will be required to enter into a contract with TechTown Detroit. The contract, among other things, will contain terms regarding how and when the prize money will be distributed and will require the winner to use the prize money solely to fund the business described in the winner’s entry and represented to TechTown Detroit and the public during the Contest. The contract will require regular reporting from the winner to TechTown Detroit. The contract will reserve for TechTown Detroit the right to withhold funding of all or any of the prize money if the winner fails to comply with the terms agreed to in the contract. The 2023 semifinalists will become part of the Hatch Detroit by TechTown alumni network.
11. Release and Waiver: By entering the Contest, each entrant irrevocably agrees and acknowledges to be bound by the Official Rules and all applicable laws and decisions of TechTown Detroit which are final and binding in all respects; to forever and irrevocably waive all of his/her rights to claim ambiguity with respect to the Official Rules and to waive all of his/her rights to bring any claim, action, or proceeding against TechTown Detroit in connection with the Contest; and to forever and irrevocably release, indemnify, and hold harmless TechTown Detroit and its respective officers, directors, employees, or agents including outside attorneys, shareholders, representatives, successors, and assigns (collectively the “Releases”) from any liability (including, but not limited to, liability for defamation, libel, slander, invasion of privacy, infringement of publicity or any intellectual property rights, any property loss, damage, personal injury, bodily injury, death, expense, accident, delay, inconvenience or irregularity, and any indirect, incidental, consequential, special, punitive or exemplary damages of any kind, even if the Releases have been advised of the possibility of such loss or damages), costs and expenses (including, without limitation, reasonable outside attorneys’ fees) that may arise from, result from, or are in connection with: (a) the Contest including, but not limited to, any Contest-related activity or element thereof and the entrant’s entry, participation, or inability to participate in the Contest; (b) the violation of any privacy, personal, publicity or proprietary rights; (c) typographical errors in these Official Rules or any Contest promotional materials; (d) any change in the prizing (or any components thereof) due to unavailability, business or creative considerations, or due to reasons beyond TechTown Detroit’s control or as otherwise permitted in these Official Rules; (e) any interruptions in or postponement, cancellation, or modification of the Contest; (f) human error; (g) incorrect or inaccurate transcription, receipt, or transmission of any part of the Contest entry; (h) any system, computer timing and/or dating mechanism, computer equipment, software, or Internet service provider utilized by TechTown Detroit or by an entrant; (i) interruption or inability to access the Contest, the Website, or any other Contest-related web pages or any online service via the internet due to hardware or software compatibility problems; (j) any damage to entrant’s (or any third person’s) computer and/or its contents related to or resulting from any part of the Contest; (k) any lost/delayed data transmissions, omissions, interruptions, defects, and/or any other destroyed, incomplete, undeliverable or damaged Contest Entries; (l) any wrongful, negligent, or unauthorized act or omission on the part of TechTown Detroit, or any of its agents or employees; (m) the public voting or the tabulation of the votes, or (n) the selection by TechTown Detroit or its advisors of the finalists.

Updated 24 Jan 2023