STOP. PLEASE READ.
Competitors are hereby placed on notice that all Competition Winners and Honorable Mentions will be required to enter into an Agreement with the City of New York prior to eligibility for an award.

The Agreement will include, but is not limited to, the following provisions:

1. That as a Winner or Honorable Mention you reaffirm your Agreement with all of the terms and conditions set forth in the Competition Materials.
2. That the City of New York and Award Recipients shall co-own the copyright and patent, if applicable, of the submitted Design and any and all materials, 3-dimensional digital models, renderings, documentation, drawings, sketches, plans, mock ups or depictions in any format submitted that make up the Design.

Competitors will receive a sample Agreement at the same time they receive their registration number. Within ten (10) business days of notification that he or she is a potential Winner or Honorable Mention, the Competitor will be required to agree to the terms and conditions as set forth in the sample Agreement. Failure to receive a fully signed Agreement will void the Competitor’s entry in the Competition. Competitors are encouraged to review all of the terms and conditions set forth in the Agreement prior to entering a Submission. Any questions with regard to your legal rights and obligations under the Agreement should be discussed with private counsel prior to entering a Submission. If a potential Winner or Honorable Mention declines to enter into the proposed Agreement with the City of New York, he or she may withdraw from the Competition. 

This is an Open Competition subject to the following restrictions:

• No purchase is necessary to apply for an Award under this Competition. This Competition is void where prohibited by Law. 
• Competitors must be 18 years or older.
• Only one Registration Form may be submitted per person for the duration of the Competition.
• Team work is encouraged. A Competitor that wishes to work with a team must list his or her team members in the space provided on the Registration Form. Team members cannot register separately as individual Competitors and will not be recognized as Competitors.
• Awards are non-assignable and non-transferable. Any Awards issued by the Sponsor shall be to a registered Competitor only.
• There is no fee to register. Competitors remain anonymous until the Jury has made its selections.
• Jury Members, members of the Technical Advisory Committee, employees of the Sponsor, and their family members are prohibited from entering the Competition.
• Competitors that submit incomplete Registration Forms are not eligible to compete.

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1. All Competition Winners and Honorable Mentions will be required to enter into an Agreement with the City of New York prior to eligibility for an award (see Contractural Obligation section above).
2. All Competitors represent and warrant that any materials he or she submits shall be wholly original material not published elsewhere; shall not violate any copyright, trademark or other applicable law; and shall not, to the best of the Competitor’s knowledge, constitute a defamation or invasion of the right of privacy or publicity, or an infringement of any kind, of any rights of any third party.
3. The Competitors shall comply with all applicable provisions of federal, state or local laws, rules and regulations throughout the duration of this Competition.
4. Competitors are responsible for all costs of applying to the Competition.
5. Competitors and Award Recipients agree to release the City of New York, the Sponsor, Jury Members and each of their respective affiliates and all of their officers, directors, employees, agents and insurers from and against any liability or damages arising as a result of or otherwise related to their participation in the Competition.
6. The Sponsor may edit any Submissions for grammar and clarity.
7. All Submissions will not be returned and become the property of the Sponsor.
8. Awards are non-assignable and not transferable
9. Under no circumstances may a Competitor contact a Jury Member about a Submission. If a Competitor contacts a Jury Member about his or her own Submission or the Submission of any Competitor, the Competitor will be disqualified.

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1. The New York City Office of Emergency Management (OEM) is the sole sponsor of the Competition.

2. The City of New York, OEM and their agents, respective affiliates, subsidiaries, directors, officers, and employees:

   1. Are not responsible for error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, delay in operations or transmission, theft or destruction or unauthorized access to or alterations of application materials, or for technical, network, telephone equipment, electronic, computer hardware or software malfunctions of any kind or inaccurate transmission of or failure to receive Submission information on account of technical problems or traffic congestion on the Internet, or any website or combination thereof.

   2. Are not responsible for any injury or damage to the Competitor’s or any other person’s computer related to or resulting from downloading any materials related to the Competition.

   3. Are not responsible for late, lost, stolen, illegible, incomplete, mutilated, destroyed, delayed, or postage due mail or misdirected Submissions.

   4. Are not responsible for any oversights, omissions, or errors on their part.

   5. Reserve the right, at their sole discretion, to suspend, modify or cancel the electronic method of access to the application if it becomes technically corrupted.

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By registering for the Competition, the Competitors grant the Sponsor, the Competition Support and each of their respective agents, affiliates, subsidiaries, directors, officers, and employees, an irrevocable, perpetual, world-wide and fully paid up license to reproduce, publish, exhibit, transmit or otherwise utilize in any format now known or hereafter devised the Competitor’s Submissions and any and all portions thereof. The Sponsor will make every effort to credit the Competitor or winner for use of their Submission for such purposes.

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All materials submitted in either Period of the Competition shall become the sole property of the Sponsor. Award Recipients and the City of New York shall co-own the copyright and patent, if applicable, of any and all materials, 3-dimensional digital models, renderings, documentation, drawings, sketches, plans, mock ups or depictions in any format submitted of or as part of the Design as well as the completed Design itself. All physical materials and electronic copies of digital materials, which are furnished by the Award Recipient at no cost to the Sponsor shall become the property of the Sponsor and will not be returned. Each Award Recipient will be required to enter into an Agreement which incorporates these terms and conditions.

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Confidentiality of personal information will be maintained by use of reasonable means, subject to the following: By virtue of their Submission, Competitors agree that their names shall be available to the Sponsor to use in any manner in which the Sponsor deems appropriate. In addition, to the extent information submitted in the application is not information that the Sponsor will endeavor to protect from disclosure pursuant to this paragraph, Competitors agree that such information shall be available to the Sponsor to use in any manner in which the Sponsor deems appropriate. Neither the City of New York, OEM, nor any affiliated entity assumes or shall be held responsible for any liability whatsoever for any disclosures of any information submitted by any Competitor, whether such disclosure is made inadvertently or otherwise by any Jury Member, staff, consultant, affiliate or other individual connected with, participating in, reviewing, hearing, or receiving information from or in connection with the Competition. Personal information, including but not limited to date of birth, sex, address and phone number may be used to generate statistical information but will not be intentionally disclosed on an individual basis by the Sponsor, nor any Jury Member. The Sponsor will endeavor, in accordance with applicable law, to protect from disclosure any confidential and/or proprietary information that the Competitor and its owners submitted as part of the Registration or Submission process.

The Sponsor may be required, pursuant to the New York State Freedom of Information Law (New York Public Officers Law section 87 et seq.) to disclose to the public a completed Registration Form, Submission or portions thereof. In the event that a request for disclosure is made, the Sponsor will provide notice to the Competitor as far in advance as practicable of any deadline for response to such request and shall consult with the Competitor to evaluate the extent to which such information may be withheld from disclosure under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Law. Consistent with the requirements of that law, the final determination about whether information may be withheld from disclosure shall be made by the Sponsor. In the event that the Sponsor determines that information may not be withheld from disclosure, the Sponsor will attempt to provide the Competitor with timely notice of intent to disclose in order that the Competitor may invoke any rights or remedies to prevent disclosure to which it believes it may be entitled under the law.

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All issues and questions concerning the construction, validity, interpretation and enforceability of the Competition Materials, documents, terms and conditions and the rights and obligation of Competitors, and the Sponsor, in connection with the Awards or this Competition shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of New York without giving effect to any choice of law or conflict of law provisions that would cause the application of any other state's laws. Each Competitor irrevocably agrees that the state and federal courts located in New York, New York shall have exclusive jurisdiction over any suit or other proceeding arising out of, relating to or based upon the prizes or these official rules, and each applicant hereby waives any claim as to the convenience of such forum.

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The Sponsor reserves the right to terminate or withdraw this Competition and to change, modify, alter the terms and conditions governing this Competition, as set forth in the Competition Materials, at any time, without prior notice. The City of New York, the Sponsor, Jury Members, each of their respective affiliates and all of their officers, directors, employees, agents and insurers are not responsible for any damage, loss, inconvenience or injury suffered by any Competitors due to any termination, withdrawal, changes, substitutions, rescheduling, or for any reason whatsoever.

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