Event Terms & Conditions

1. Communications and Data Sharing

1.1 Consent to Communications

By registering for this event, you explicitly consent to receive event-related updates and operational communications from Lumos via email or other electronic means. Subscription to marketing newsletters and non-essential communications requires a separate Double Opt-In in accordance with § 174 TKG 2021. You may opt out of any communications at any time by using the unsubscribe link provided in our emails.

1.2 Data Sharing with Partners

You acknowledge and agree that personal data provided during registration (e.g., name, email address, academic background, and project-related information) may be shared with selected partners, sponsors, or collaborating firms involved in the organization, sponsorship, or delivery of the event. This data sharing is strictly limited to purposes related to the event and is conducted in compliance with applicable data protection laws, including the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

1.3 Purpose of Data Sharing

Shared data will be used exclusively for:

• Event logistics and participant management;
• Facilitating collaboration between participants and partners (e.g., team formation, mentorship, or project evaluation);
• Awarding prizes, scholarships, or other event-related benefits;
• Post-event follow-ups, such as feedback surveys or networking opportunities.
• Talent identification and recruitment outreach by event partners, limited to participants who have given explicit and separate consent during registration.

Partners are contractually obligated to process your data only for the agreed purposes and to implement appropriate technical and organizational measures to ensure its security.

2. Data Protection and Security

2.1 Lawful Processing

Your personal data will be processed lawfully, fairly, and transparently in accordance with GDPR and Austrian data protection laws. Lumos and its partners will not sell or use your data for unrelated marketing or commercial purposes.

2.2 Data Retention

Personal data collected for the event will be retained only for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined in Section 1.3 or as required by law. After this period, data will be securely deleted or anonymized.

2.3 Your Rights

Under GDPR, you have the following rights regarding your personal data:

• Right of access (Art. 15 GDPR): Request a copy of the data we hold about you.
• Right to rectification (Art. 16 GDPR): Correct inaccurate or incomplete data.
• Right to erasure (Art. 17 GDPR): Request the deletion of your data, subject to legal obligations.
• Right to restriction of processing (Art. 18 GDPR): Limit how your data is used.
• Right to object (Art. 21 GDPR): Object to the processing of your data for specific purposes.
• Right to data portability (Art. 20 GDPR): Receive your data in a structured, machine-readable format.

To exercise these rights, contact us at info@lumos-consulting.at. Requests will be processed within 30 days, unless a shorter statutory deadline applies.

3. Intellectual Property (IP) Rights

3.1 Definitions and Ownership of Ideas

All new code, software, AI models, documentation, presentations, and other materials created by participants during the hackathon are collectively referred to as “Hackathon Contributions”.

To ensure a level playing field for all participants, no Pre-Existing IP (i.e., code, models, or other materials created prior to the hackathon) may be incorporated into Hackathon Contributions. All submitted work must be developed during the official hacking period (see Section 3.2).

Lumos claims no ownership over participants’ ideas, concepts, or pitches. Ideas as such are not protected by copyright; only their concrete expression (i.e., Hackathon Contributions) is subject to intellectual property rights. Participants warrant that their ideas do not infringe third-party intellectual property rights.

3.2 No Pre-Existing IP Policy

In the interest of fairness toward all participants, the use of Pre-Existing IP is not permitted at this hackathon. This means:

• All code, models, and project assets must be created during the official hacking period (Friday evening through Sunday final presentations);
• Project repositories must be initialized empty at the start of the event;
• Participants may use publicly available third-party tools, open-source libraries, publicly released pre-trained base models, and public datasets, provided they comply with the respective license terms (see Sections 3.5 and 3.6).

The following standard boilerplate is explicitly permitted and does not count as Pre-Existing IP:

• Standard project scaffolding generated by official framework CLIs (e.g., create-react-app, npm init, cargo new, poetry new);
• Configuration files such as .gitignore, .editorconfig, package.json, pyproject.toml, Dockerfile templates, IDE configuration;
• LICENSE and README templates;
• Empty folder structures.

Verification and Disqualification Procedure. The jury reserves the right to verify compliance via commit history and source review. Where substantial Pre-Existing IP is suspected:

• The affected team will be notified in writing (or via the official event communication channel) and given the opportunity to respond and provide evidence before any decision is taken;
• The decision is made by the Lumos organizing team together with at least one member of the jury, based on the criteria above;
• Decisions are documented in writing and shared with the affected team;
• Sanctions range from partial point deduction (minor or unintentional violations) to disqualification from prize eligibility (substantial or intentional violations).

3.3 Code and Software

All code and software included in Hackathon Contributions is automatically protected by copyright under applicable law, including Directive 2009/24/EC. Participants retain full ownership of their Hackathon Contributions.

By submitting Hackathon Contributions, participants agree that their contributions are licensed under the MIT License (https://opensource.org/licenses/MIT). This means:

• Lumos, event partners, and any third party may freely use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Hackathon Contributions;
• The original MIT License notice and copyright attribution to the author(s) must be included in all copies or substantial portions of the software, in accordance with the standard MIT License terms;
• Participants equally retain the right to use, modify, and commercialize their own Hackathon Contributions without restriction.

Scope of Author Attribution (Practical Clarification). Author attribution in accordance with the MIT License will be provided in:

• Source code files, repositories, and accompanying LICENSE/NOTICE files;
• Project documentation, READMEs, and event presentations;
• Internal records of partners and Lumos.

Participants acknowledge and agree that author attribution is not foreseen and not requested in the user-facing surfaces of partners’ productive customer-facing, sales, or core production systems (e.g., end-user dashboards, marketing materials, customer-facing UIs). To the extent legally permissible, participants waive the assertion of any right to be named (“Recht auf Namensnennung” / droit à la paternité) in such user-facing surfaces. Mandatory attribution under the MIT License at the source-code, repository, and NOTICE-file level remains fully in place. This clarification does not constitute a transfer or full waiver of moral rights (“Urheberpersönlichkeitsrechte”), which under Austrian and German law remain with the author.

Hackathon Contributions are provided “as is”, without warranty of any kind. Neither Lumos nor any participant shall be liable for any claims, damages, or other liability arising from the use of the contributions.

3.4 Partner-Specific Challenges

For challenges sponsored or provided by event partners, the same MIT License terms as set out in Section 3.3 apply by default, including the attribution scope clarification.

If a partner requires different or additional license terms for their specific challenge, these must be:

• Approved by Lumos in advance;
• Communicated to participants before the start of the challenge;
• Transparent, reasonable, and clearly documented in the challenge description.

Participants who choose to participate in a partner challenge with non-standard license terms agree to the applicable terms for that challenge. Participants are free to opt out of any partner challenge whose license terms they do not accept.

3.5 Fine-Tuned AI Models

Participants acknowledge that fine-tuned AI models based on third-party base models (e.g., Meta’s Llama, Mistral, or similar) constitute derivative works and are subject to the license terms of the respective base model. Participants warrant that they hold all necessary licenses and permissions for the use of such base models and that any fine-tuned models submitted to the hackathon comply with the applicable base model license.

Self-Commitment Regarding Fine-Tuning Work. In keeping with the spirit of Section 3.2, participants commit to performing fine-tuning, training, and adaptation work during the hackathon. Participants undertake not to submit privately pre-fine-tuned proprietary checkpoints prepared before the event as their primary contribution. Publicly released pre-trained base models from model providers (e.g., on Hugging Face) remain permitted as starting points.

Lumos assumes no liability for any violations of third-party licenses arising from participants’ use of base models or other third-party components. Participants are solely responsible for verifying that their use — including any commercial use — is permitted under the applicable license before submission.

For partner challenges involving fine-tuned models, the sponsoring partner is solely responsible for obtaining any additional permissions or licenses from the base model provider that may be required for their intended use of the submitted model.

3.6 Datasets

Participants must comply with the license terms of any third-party datasets used during the hackathon. Datasets provided by Lumos or event partners are made available exclusively for use during the event unless otherwise stated. Participants may not retain, redistribute, or use partner-provided datasets beyond the scope and duration of the event.

Where partner-provided datasets contain personal data, processing is governed by Section 2 of these Terms and by any applicable data processing agreement between Lumos and the partner. Participants must handle such data in compliance with GDPR and delete all copies within 7 days after the event concludes, unless a separate agreement provides otherwise.

3.7 Documentation

All documentation, presentations, and written materials created by participants during the hackathon are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC-BY 4.0), unless the participant specifies otherwise. The attribution scope clarification in Section 3.3 applies analogously: attribution is required in documentation and academic or professional reuse contexts, but is not foreseen in user-facing surfaces of partners’ productive systems.

3.8 Open Source Compliance

Participants are encouraged to include a LICENSE file and a README in their project repositories, listing all third-party tools, libraries, base models, and datasets used. Participants must ensure that their submissions comply with all applicable open-source licenses.

3.9 Dispute Resolution for IP Matters

Any disputes regarding intellectual property rights arising from the event shall first be resolved through good-faith negotiation between the parties involved. If no resolution is reached, the dispute shall be subject to the governing law and jurisdiction set out in Section 7.1 of these Terms.

4. Photography, Video, and Media Recording

4.1 Consent to Media Use

By attending the event, you grant Lumos and its partners irrevocable, worldwide, and royalty-free permission to use photographs, videos, or audio recordings taken during the event in which you appear. This includes, but is not limited to:

• Promotional materials (e.g., websites, social media, brochures);
• Documentation of the event (e.g., reports, presentations);
• Educational or non-commercial purposes.

This general consent covers group shots and general event documentation. For prominent individual close-up photographs, video portraits, or interviews, Lumos will obtain additional verbal or written consent from the individual on-site before use.

4.2 Opt-Out

If you do not consent to the use of your image or likeness, you must notify Lumos in writing at info@lumos-consulting.at prior to the event. Lumos will make reasonable efforts to accommodate your request.

5. Prizes and Liability Disclaimer

5.1 Eligibility

Only registered and checked-in participants are eligible for prizes, awards, or other benefits offered during the event. To qualify, you must use the same email address for event registration and project submission.

5.2 Role of Lumos

Lumos acts solely as an organizer and facilitator of the event. All prizes, awards, or benefits are provided exclusively by the respective event partners or sponsors. Lumos’ role is limited to:

• Forwarding the credentials and details of winning teams to the responsible partner(s);
• Facilitating communication between winners and partners.

5.3 Limitation of Liability

Lumos’ liability for slight negligence (leichte Fahrlässigkeit) is excluded, except in cases of personal injury. Liability for gross negligence (grobe Fahrlässigkeit) and intentional misconduct (Vorsatz) remains unaffected in accordance with the Austrian Civil Code (ABGB).

Lumos explicitly disclaims any responsibility or liability for:

• The delivery, quality, or value of prizes;
• The failure of a partner to fulfill their prize obligations;
• Technical defects or unavailability of prizes (e.g., software licenses, hardware);
• Tax or legal consequences arising from the acceptance of prizes (e.g., reporting obligations for non-cash prizes exceeding €500);
• Damages arising from the use of partner-provided benefits (e.g., cloud credits, software subscriptions);
• Any disputes arising between participants and partners regarding prizes.

Participants acknowledge that any claims related to prizes must be directed to the respective partner.

6. Withdrawal of Consent and Opt-Out

6.1 Right to Withdraw

You may withdraw your consent to data processing or unsubscribe from communications at any time by:

• Using the unsubscribe link in our emails;
• Contacting info@lumos-consulting.at with your request.

6.2 Consequences of Withdrawal

Withdrawing consent may limit your ability to participate in certain event activities (e.g., prize distribution or partner collaborations). Lumos will inform you of any such consequences at the time of your request.

7. Miscellaneous

7.1 Governing Law

These Terms & Conditions are governed by Austrian law. Any disputes arising from or related to the event shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the competent courts for Vienna, Austria (Bezirksgericht or Landesgericht für Zivilrechtssachen Wien, as applicable).

7.2 Amendments

Lumos reserves the right to amend these Terms & Conditions at any time. Participants will be notified of material changes via email or the event website.

7.3 Severability

If any provision of these Terms & Conditions is found to be invalid or unenforceable, the remaining provisions shall remain in full force and effect.