# NATIONAL HISTORY DAY KOREA ## Terms of Service *Governing Use of the NHD Korea Website and Participation in the NHD Korea Contest* Effective Date: [Insert Date] | Version 2.0 --- ## 1. Introduction and Acceptance These Terms of Service ("Terms") govern (a) all use of the website operated by National History Day Korea ("NHD Korea," "we," "us," or "our"), including any subdomain, mobile-optimized version, or successor site (the "Website"), and (b) participation in the NHD Korea contest and all associated regional, affiliate, and national-advancement activities (the "Contest"). NHD Korea operates as a licensed or affiliated program associated with National History Day, Inc. ("NHD National"), a 501(c)(3) organization headquartered in College Park, Maryland, and these Terms should be read alongside, and do not replace, any terms of use published by NHD National. Any access to or use of any website, subdomain, registration portal, or online service operated by or on behalf of NHD Korea, whether or not you create an account, register, or submit an Entry, constitutes acceptance of these Terms in full. Registration for the Contest, submission of an Entry, and participation in any NHD Korea event constitute separate and independent acceptance of these Terms. If you do not agree to these Terms, you must not access or use any NHD Korea website and must not register, submit an Entry, or otherwise participate. If you are a student under the age of 18, a parent or legal guardian must review and accept these Terms on your behalf, and any use of an NHD Korea website by a minor is deemed to occur with that acceptance already obtained. We may amend, restate, or replace these Terms in whole or in part, at any time and for any reason, in our sole discretion, and without an obligation to notify a Participant, parent, guardian, judge, or Sponsoring School individually. An amendment takes effect immediately upon posting to the Website unless we specify a later effective date, and we are not required to use any particular method of posting beyond making the current version available on the Website. Continued access to or use of the Website, and continued participation in the Contest, after an amendment is posted constitutes acceptance of the amended Terms; if a Participant does not accept an amendment, their sole remedy is to stop using the Website and withdraw from the Contest, without a refund of any fee already paid. We may apply a different version of these Terms to different contest cycles, and may apply an amendment to conduct that occurred before the amendment's effective date where the amendment clarifies, interprets, or is consistent with the version of these Terms in effect at the time of that conduct, or where applicable law permits retroactive application. We encourage Participants to review these Terms periodically; the version posted on the Website at the relevant time governs and controls over any prior version, printed copy, or version referenced in earlier correspondence. --- ## 2. Definitions * "Participant" means any student, teacher, judge, volunteer, parent, or other individual who registers for, submits an entry to, or otherwise takes part in the Contest. * "Entry" means any paper, exhibit, documentary, performance, website, or other project format submitted for evaluation under NHD Korea or NHD National contest rules. * "Coordinator" means an NHD Korea officer, regional coordinator, or designated staff member responsible for administering registration, scheduling, and advancement decisions. * "Sponsoring School" means an institution that qualifies as a school under the Republic of Korea's Elementary and Secondary Education Act, Higher Education Act, or another statute under which the Ministry of Education or a competent education authority recognizes an institution as a school, including public and private accredited schools and lawfully recognized international or foreign-curriculum schools operating in Korea, or an educational institution NHD Korea has recognized in writing as an affiliate for a specific contest cycle. A private academy (학원), tutoring center, consulting business, unaccredited program, informal study group, or similar entity that is not recognized as a school under such a statute or by NHD Korea in writing is not a Sponsoring School, regardless of the name it uses to register. * "Registration Period" means the window during which registration and payment are accepted, as published on the Website for each contest cycle. * "Content" means any text, image, video, audio, code, or other material submitted to or posted on the Website, including Entries. --- ## 3. Eligibility and Registration Eligibility to participate in the Contest is determined by NHD Korea and, where applicable, by NHD National eligibility rules then in effect. NHD Korea reserves the right to verify eligibility at any stage of the Contest, including after an Entry has been evaluated or advanced, and to disqualify any Participant or Entry found not to meet eligibility requirements. Registration is completed through the registration platform designated by NHD Korea for each contest cycle and is not considered final until full payment of the applicable registration fee has been received and confirmed. Incomplete registrations, including registrations submitted without required waivers, parental consent, or payment, will not be processed and confer no right to participate. NHD Korea publishes, for each contest cycle, a Registration Period, a project-upload deadline, a website lockout time after which no further changes to an Entry or its supporting materials may be made, and a payment deadline. These dates are binding. It is the sole responsibility of the Participant, or the Participant's parent, guardian, or teacher, to track and meet these dates; NHD Korea is not obligated to send reminders and is not responsible for a Participant's failure to meet a published deadline. --- ## 4. Fees, Late Fees, and No Refunds A registration fee, in the amount published on the Website for the applicable contest cycle, is charged for the opportunity to submit a student Entry for consideration under that cycle's rules. Payment of the registration fee does not purchase evaluation, judging, advancement, a place on any schedule, access to any venue, or any other specific service or outcome; it purchases only the opportunity to be considered for submission, subject at all times to eligibility review, capacity limits, and these Terms. NHD Korea may decline to accept a submitted Entry, or may determine after acceptance that an Entry is not eligible for evaluation, without any obligation to refund the fee paid for the opportunity to submit. Registrations submitted or completed after the close of the Registration Period, but before any published late-registration deadline, are charged a late-registration fee in addition to the standard fee, as published on the Website. That late fee likewise purchases only the opportunity to submit under the late-registration terms then in effect and does not purchase any guarantee of evaluation or advancement. ALL REGISTRATION FEES, LATE FEES, AND OTHER CONTEST-RELATED FEES ARE NONREFUNDABLE UNDER ALL CIRCUMSTANCES, including withdrawal, disqualification, illness, schedule conflict, travel disruption, force majeure, or cancellation, postponement, or format change of the Contest by NHD Korea or NHD National. Payment of a registration fee does not entitle a Participant to a specific evaluation time, judging panel, advancement outcome, or in-person contest format. Where a contest cycle includes a paid meal, banquet, or optional event, a refund of that specific meal or event fee will be issued only if a written cancellation request is received by the Coordinator before the deadline published for that event. No refund of any kind will be issued for a cancellation received after that deadline, including on the day of the event. Late fees are enforced strictly and without exception. NHD Korea does not grant fee waivers, extensions, or partial refunds based on individual hardship, technical difficulty, or misunderstanding of the published schedule, except where NHD Korea determines in its sole and unreviewable discretion that an exception is warranted. Where NHD Korea denies, restricts, revokes, suspends, or discontinues any service, registration, acceptance, evaluation, judging, advancement, or other opportunity to a Participant, parent or legal guardian, judge, volunteer, or Sponsoring School under Section 6, Section 7, Section 26, Section 27, Section 28, or any other provision of these Terms, no refund of any fee already paid is owed as a result, regardless of the reason for, timing of, or stage of the Contest at which that denial, restriction, revocation, suspension, or discontinuation occurs. --- ## 5. Website Access and Acceptable Use NHD Korea grants each Participant a limited, revocable, non-exclusive, non-transferable license to access and use the Website for the personal, non-commercial purpose of registering for and participating in the Contest. This license does not permit downloading, scraping, mirroring, reselling, or commercially exploiting any part of the Website, and does not permit framing, deep-linking in a manner that misrepresents affiliation, or automated access of any kind without prior written consent. You must not use the Website to post or transmit Content that is unlawful, defamatory, harassing, threatening, obscene, or that infringes the intellectual property or privacy rights of any person; to impersonate any individual or organization; to interfere with the operation or security of the Website; or to solicit, advertise, or fundraise for any purpose unrelated to NHD Korea without prior written consent. NHD Korea may suspend or terminate a Participant's access to the Website, and may disqualify a related Entry, at any time and without prior notice, if NHD Korea determines in its sole discretion that this Section has been violated. --- ## 6. Disqualification Authority NHD Korea may reject, suspend, remove, or disqualify a Participant or an Entry at any stage of the Contest, including after judging has concluded, after results have been announced, after an award or advancement has been granted, or after the contest cycle has closed. A violation discovered after the conclusion of a contest cycle remains fully actionable, and NHD Korea may take any of the measures described in Section 7 with respect to that violation notwithstanding the passage of time, subject only to any limitation period NHD Korea elects to apply in its discretion. This authority extends to, without limitation, the following categories of conduct: ### 6.1 Eligibility Violations * Failure to meet applicable grade, age, school, residence, or affiliate eligibility requirements * Entry submitted in an incorrect division or category * Submission of multiple Entries where the rules permit only one * Unauthorized transfer or substitution of an Entry between Participants * Group composition that does not meet the requirements for the applicable category * Addition or replacement of a group member after the applicable permitted date * Registration submitted under a purported Sponsoring School that does not meet the definition in Section 2, whether or not the Participant knew of the defect * Registering, or attempting to register, in violation of a restriction, condition, or denial imposed on the Participant under Section 28.1 ### 6.2 Registration Violations * Providing false, incomplete, inconsistent, or misleading information at registration or at any point thereafter * Use of another person's identity or account to register or submit * Maintaining duplicate accounts * Failure to obtain required guardian, teacher, or school authorization * Failure to pay a required fee by the applicable deadline * Initiating a chargeback or payment dispute without a valid basis * Failure to submit a required form, waiver, or release * Failure to respond to a verification request within the time NHD Korea specifies ### 6.3 Academic Violations * Plagiarism * Fabricated citations, interviews, or sources * Falsified research * Misrepresentation of primary or secondary sources * Submission of another person's work as the Participant's own * Reuse of an Entry, or substantially the same Entry, from a prior contest cycle * Unauthorized collaboration * Reliance on prohibited outside assistance * Work created substantially by a parent, teacher, tutor, consultant, or commercial service * Undisclosed or prohibited use of generative artificial intelligence tools * Manipulation of evidence, media, translations, or data * Failure to maintain source records sufficient for NHD Korea to verify the Entry's authenticity ### 6.4 Project-Rule Violations * Exceeding applicable time, word, size, media, or file limits * Missing required written materials * Submission of a file that is inaccessible, corrupted, or improperly password-protected * Changes made to an Entry or its supporting materials after the applicable lock deadline * Use of a prohibited prop, weapon, replica, animal, material, or piece of equipment * A violation specific to the rules of the applicable category * Failure to follow published submission instructions * Failure to make the Entry available for judging in the manner and by the time required ### 6.5 Conduct Violations * Threatening, abusive, intimidating, or disruptive conduct * Harassment of a student, judge, staff member, volunteer, teacher, or venue personnel * An attempt to influence a judge outside the process NHD Korea authorizes * Repeated, unsolicited contact with a judge * Offering a gift, payment, benefit, or favor to a judge, Coordinator, or staff member * Retaliation against another Participant, a judge, or a person who has reported a concern * Interference with another Participant's Entry * Damage to venue or event property * Unauthorized access to a restricted area, account, file, or system * Recording where recording has been prohibited * Publication of confidential judging material * Impersonation * Fraud * Conduct that is unlawful under applicable law * Any other conduct that materially disrupts contest operations or undermines the integrity or safety of the Contest ### 6.6 Reputational and Operational Risk NHD Korea may additionally take action under Section 7 where a Participant's conduct, on or off an NHD Korea platform and whether or not it falls within Sections 6.1 through 6.5, creates a material safety or security risk to the Contest; materially disrupts a contest event; threatens the integrity of judging; exposes a Participant, judge, volunteer, or staff member to harassment; makes a Participant's continued participation impracticable; or violates a requirement imposed by a venue, school, platform provider, or host institution that NHD Korea is bound to observe. NHD Korea's determination under this Section 6.6 will be tied to one or more of the operational effects listed above rather than to a bare characterization of the conduct as inappropriate or reputationally undesirable. ### 6.7 Unauthorized Use of the NHD Name or Brand * Use of the "National History Day," "NHD," "NHD Korea," or any confusingly similar name, mark, or logo, in a program name, curriculum title, course description, advertisement, marketing material, or other public-facing material, without NHD Korea's prior written authorization * Representing or implying an affiliation, endorsement, license, or partnership with NHD Korea or NHD National that has not been authorized in writing * Reference to NHD Korea or NHD National within a curriculum, syllabus, academy program, tutoring service, or consulting offering in a manner suggesting official sanction, accreditation, or partnership that does not exist * Advertising participation, coaching, or preparation services "for NHD," "for National History Day," or using a substantially similar description, without authorization A judge, teacher, parent, legal guardian, Sponsoring School, or other Participant or associated adult or organization found responsible for conduct under this Section 6.7 is subject to disqualification and to the measures described in Section 7, in addition to the brand-protection measures described in Section 27. --- ## 7. Available Disciplinary Measures Where NHD Korea determines that a violation described in Section 6, or any other violation of these Terms, has occurred, NHD Korea may impose one or more of the following measures, in any combination and in any order, as NHD Korea determines appropriate in its sole discretion: * A warning * A correction deadline * A requirement to remove prohibited material * An adjustment to a score or ranking, where the applicable contest rules authorize it * Removal from consideration for a special award * Temporary suspension from the Contest or the Website * Removal from a venue * Rejection of an Entry * Disqualification of a Participant or an Entry * Revocation of an award already granted * Revocation of advancement already granted * Reallocation of an advancement place to another Entry * A requirement to return a prize, certificate, or award * Prohibition from participating in future NHD Korea events * Notification to the Participant's parent, guardian, teacher, school, or affiliate, or to NHD National * Referral of the matter to the venue, school, platform provider, or an appropriate authority NHD Korea may impose any of these measures without prior notice and without providing a hearing, and its determination of whether a violation occurred and which measure to impose is final. Imposition of a measure under this Section does not entitle the affected Participant to a refund of any fee paid, including the registration fee described in Section 4. --- ## 8. Assumption of Risk; No Guarantee of Safety Attendance at any Contest event, and any travel undertaken to reach or return from a Contest event, is undertaken entirely at the Participant's own risk. NHD Korea does not guarantee the safety of any Participant, parent, teacher, judge, volunteer, or other attendee while traveling to, from, or attending any Contest event, and does not warrant that any venue, host institution, transportation arrangement, or lodging arrangement is free of hazard. This applies regardless of whether the venue, transportation, or lodging is selected, arranged, recommended, or merely permitted by NHD Korea. NHD Korea shall not be liable for any injury, illness, death, loss, delay, or damage to person or property arising out of or in connection with travel to or from a Contest event, attendance at a Contest event, or conditions at any venue, howsoever caused, including by the negligence of NHD Korea, its officers, Coordinators, employees, volunteers, or agents, except to the extent such liability arises from NHD Korea's own gross negligence or willful misconduct and cannot lawfully be disclaimed. Where applicable law does not permit disclaiming liability for ordinary negligence, this Section limits NHD Korea's liability to the minimum extent required by that law and no further. Each Participant, and where the Participant is a minor, that Participant's parent or legal guardian, assumes full responsibility for the Participant's own safety and conduct while traveling to, from, or attending any Contest event, including responsibility for evaluating the fitness of any transportation, lodging, or venue arrangement before relying on it. This assumption of risk is in addition to, and does not limit, the indemnification obligations described in Section 19 or the limitation of liability described in Section 18. --- ## 9. Finality of Decisions; Waiver of Claims By registering, submitting an Entry, or participating in any Contest event, each Participant, and where the Participant is a minor, that Participant's parent or legal guardian, agrees that all decisions made by NHD Korea, including eligibility determinations, judging scores and rankings, advancement decisions, disciplinary measures under Section 7, and disqualification decisions under Section 6, are final and binding. This agreement extends to decisions made under Section 8. Each Participant and, where applicable, parent or legal guardian, waives, releases, and forever discharges NHD Korea and its officers, directors, Coordinators, employees, volunteers, and agents from any and all claims, demands, causes of action, or rights of legal recourse arising out of or relating to a decision described in the preceding paragraph, except where the claim arises from NHD Korea's gross negligence, willful misconduct, or fraud, or where such a waiver cannot lawfully be enforced. Where enforceable, this waiver extends to claims for injunctive relief, reinstatement, rescoring, reversal of a disqualification or advancement decision, and monetary damages of any kind. Each Participant and, where applicable, parent or legal guardian, agrees not to pursue, encourage, or assist in any public campaign, media appeal, or legal proceeding intended to reverse, publicly discredit, or pressure NHD Korea to reconsider a decision described above, and agrees to raise any concern about a decision solely and exclusively through the internal review process, if any, that NHD Korea elects to make available. Nothing in this Section is intended to waive a right that applicable law does not permit to be waived, and this Section shall be enforced to the maximum extent that applicable law allows. --- ## 10. Covenant Not to Disrupt Operations; Liability for Breach Each Participant, and where the Participant is a minor, that Participant's parent or legal guardian, undertakes and guarantees to NHD Korea that they will make their best effort not to disturb, delay, or interfere with the operation of NHD Korea, including the judging process, the advancement process, any Contest event, and the ordinary administrative functions of NHD Korea. This undertaking applies to the manner in which a Participant or parent raises a concern, files a complaint, or pursues a claim, and not to the underlying right to raise a good-faith concern through the channels described in Section 9. Where a Participant's action, or a parent's or legal guardian's claim, complaint, dispute, demand letter, public statement, or legal proceeding, breaches the undertaking in the preceding paragraph and, in doing so, causes an actual delay, interruption, or disruption to judging, advancement, an event, or any other Contest process, NHD Korea may hold that Participant and their parent or legal guardian responsible for the resulting delay or disruption and for any cost NHD Korea incurs because of it, and may disqualify the Participant's Entry as a consequence, in addition to any other measure available under Section 7. NHD Korea will assess whether this Section applies by reference to the actual disruption caused, not merely by reference to the fact that a concern or claim was raised. --- ## 11. Entries, Content, and Intellectual Property Except for material properly licensed or in the public domain, each Participant represents and warrants that their Entry, and any Content they submit, is their own original work, or that of their listed group members, and does not infringe the rights of any third party. Participants remain the owners of the intellectual property in their own Entries. By submitting an Entry or other Content, each Participant grants NHD Korea a worldwide, royalty-free, non-exclusive, sublicensable license to reproduce, display, distribute, and use that Entry and Content, in whole or in part, for judging, contest administration, archival, promotional, and educational purposes, including on the Website, in print or digital publications, and in press materials, without further compensation to the Participant. All other content on the Website, including the NHD Korea name, logo, layout, and original text, is the property of NHD Korea or its licensors. No right, title, or interest in that content is transferred by your use of the Website, and no part of it may be reproduced or distributed without prior written consent. --- ## 12. Image, Voice, and Media Release Registration for the Contest constitutes consent, on behalf of the Participant and, where the Participant is a minor, on behalf of the Participant's parent or legal guardian, to the use of the Participant's name, school, photograph, video, voice, and Entry title by NHD Korea and NHD National for the purpose of announcing results, promoting the Contest, and producing educational or media materials. A Participant or parent who does not wish to grant this consent must notify the Coordinator in writing before the start of the applicable contest cycle; NHD Korea may, but is not obligated to, accommodate such a request. --- ## 13. Judging, Advancement, and Vacancies All judging decisions, rankings, and advancement determinations made by NHD Korea judges and Coordinators are final, as set out more fully in Section 9. NHD Korea does not guarantee a formal appeal process, a right to rescoring, or disclosure of individual judge deliberations, and any review of a judging decision that NHD Korea elects to conduct is undertaken solely as a courtesy and at NHD Korea's sole discretion. Where an advancing Entry becomes unable to proceed to the next level of competition for any reason, including withdrawal or disqualification, NHD Korea may, in its sole discretion, offer the vacancy to the next-highest-ranked Entry in the applicable category, which is ordinarily the third-place Entry serving as the designated alternate. NHD Korea is under no obligation to fill a resulting vacancy and no Participant has a vested right to advancement by virtue of alternate status. Evaluation forms and feedback, where produced, are made available online following the conclusion of the applicable round, on a schedule set by NHD Korea. NHD Korea does not warrant that evaluation forms will be produced for every Entry or every round. --- ## 14. Waivers and Required Agreements Participation in the Contest, including any in-person round, is conditioned on the Participant, or the Participant's parent or legal guardian, executing all waivers, liability releases, code-of-conduct acknowledgments, and media releases designated by NHD Korea for the applicable contest cycle. NHD Korea may deny participation, entry to a venue, or evaluation of a submitted Entry to any Participant who has not executed the required waivers and agreements by the published deadline. --- ## 15. Third-Party Links and Services The Website may contain links to websites, registration platforms, or services operated by third parties, including affiliate contest platforms. NHD Korea does not control and is not responsible for the content, accuracy, availability, or privacy practices of any linked or third-party site, and inclusion of a link does not constitute an endorsement. Use of any third-party site or service is at the Participant's own risk and is governed by that third party's own terms. --- ## 16. Privacy Collection and use of personal data through the Website, including data relating to children, is governed by the NHD Korea Privacy Policy, which is incorporated into these Terms by reference. Where the Privacy Policy conflicts with this Section, the Privacy Policy controls with respect to data-handling practices. --- ## 17. Disclaimer of Warranties THE WEBSITE, THE CONTEST, AND ALL RELATED MATERIALS, EVENTS, AND SERVICES ARE PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION ANY IMPLIED WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, OR UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE OPERATION. NHD KOREA DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE WEBSITE WILL BE AVAILABLE AT ANY PARTICULAR TIME, THAT REGISTRATION DATA OR UPLOADED ENTRIES WILL NOT BE LOST OR CORRUPTED, OR THAT ANY CONTEST SCHEDULE, FORMAT, OR VENUE WILL REMAIN UNCHANGED. --- ## 18. Limitation of Liability TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, NHD KOREA, ITS OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, COORDINATORS, EMPLOYEES, VOLUNTEERS, AND AGENTS SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR FOR ANY LOSS OF DATA, LOSS OF OPPORTUNITY, LOSS OF ADVANCEMENT, OR LOSS OF REPUTATION, ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THE WEBSITE, THE CONTEST, OR THESE TERMS, REGARDLESS OF THE THEORY OF LIABILITY AND EVEN IF NHD KOREA HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE TOTAL AGGREGATE LIABILITY OF NHD KOREA TO ANY PARTICIPANT, FOR ANY AND ALL CLAIMS ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THE WEBSITE, THE CONTEST, OR THESE TERMS, EXCEED THE TOTAL REGISTRATION FEES ACTUALLY PAID BY THAT PARTICIPANT FOR THE CONTEST CYCLE GIVING RISE TO THE CLAIM. THIS LIMITATION APPLIES NOTWITHSTANDING THE FAILURE OF ANY LIMITED REMEDY. WHERE APPLICABLE LAW DOES NOT PERMIT A LIMITATION OR EXCLUSION DESCRIBED IN THIS SECTION, THAT LIMITATION OR EXCLUSION APPLIES ONLY TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED. --- ## 19. Indemnification Each Participant, and where the Participant is a minor, that Participant's parent or legal guardian, agrees to indemnify and hold harmless NHD Korea and its officers, directors, Coordinators, employees, volunteers, and agents from and against any claim, liability, loss, damage, or expense, including reasonable attorneys' fees, arising out of or relating to (a) the Participant's Entry or Content, (b) the Participant's breach of these Terms, or (c) the Participant's conduct at any Contest event or on the Website. --- ## 20. Cancellation, Postponement, and Force Majeure NHD Korea reserves the right to cancel, postpone, relocate, or convert any Contest event to a remote or hybrid format for reasons including venue unavailability, insufficient registration, public health guidance, weather, or other circumstances beyond NHD Korea's reasonable control. No refund, fee credit, or compensation is owed to any Participant as a result of any such cancellation, postponement, relocation, or format change. --- ## 21. No Guarantee of Continuous Service NHD Korea makes reasonable efforts to keep the Website available and accurate but does not guarantee uninterrupted access, and is not responsible for the consequences of any outage, delay, or data-transmission failure, including a failure that occurs at or near a published deadline. Participants are encouraged to complete registration and Entry uploads well in advance of any deadline. --- ## 22. Governing Law and Dispute Resolution These Terms are governed by the laws of the Republic of Korea, without regard to its conflict-of-laws principles, except where NHD Korea's affiliation agreement with NHD National requires otherwise. Any dispute arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Contest that cannot be resolved informally shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the competent courts of the Republic of Korea. --- ## 23. Severability and Entire Agreement If any provision of these Terms is held unenforceable, that provision shall be limited or eliminated to the minimum extent necessary, and the remaining provisions shall remain in full force and effect. These Terms, together with the NHD Korea Privacy Policy and any waivers or agreements executed for a specific contest cycle, constitute the entire agreement between the Participant and NHD Korea with respect to the Website and the Contest. --- ## 24. Contact Questions regarding these Terms may be directed to NHD Korea at [insert contact email], or by mail at [insert postal address]. --- ## 25. Parent and Guardian Liability Each parent or legal guardian of a Participant under the age of 18 is a party to these Terms in their own right, and not merely as a signatory acting on the Participant's behalf. The parent or legal guardian is jointly and severally liable with the Participant for every obligation these Terms impose on the Participant, including the indemnification obligation in Section 19, the covenant in Section 10, and any cost, fee, or liability arising from a breach of these Terms, regardless of whether the parent or legal guardian personally engaged in the conduct giving rise to that liability. NHD Korea may pursue the Participant, the parent or legal guardian, or both, in any order and without first exhausting remedies against either. A parent's or legal guardian's execution of a waiver, consent, or release under these Terms, including under Section 8 or Section 9, binds that parent or legal guardian personally, in addition to binding them on the Participant's behalf. Where more than one parent or legal guardian is identified for a Participant, each is independently and fully bound, and NHD Korea may enforce these Terms against either or both. --- ## 26. School and Institutional Accountability Where a Participant registers through, or is entered by, a school, teacher, or other institution (a "Sponsoring School," as defined in Section 2), the Sponsoring School, acting through the teacher, coordinator, or administrator who submits or approves the registration, is bound by these Terms and separately warrants to NHD Korea: * that the Sponsoring School has verified the Participant's grade, age, and enrollment eligibility before registration; * that the Sponsoring School has obtained any parental or guardian consent required for the Participant to register and to be bound by these Terms; * that the Sponsoring School has taken reasonable steps to supervise the Participant's Entry for compliance with the academic-integrity requirements of Section 6.3, including the prohibition on work created substantially by a teacher, tutor, or consultant; * that the Sponsoring School will make a designated staff member available to respond to a verification request from NHD Korea within the time NHD Korea specifies. ### 26.1 Verification of School Status; Fraudulent School Registration A Participant, teacher, or other individual may not register, or cause a Participant to register, under the name of a "school" that does not meet the definition of Sponsoring School in Section 2. NHD Korea will not accept a registration submitted under a purported school that does not meet the Section 2 definition, and any such registration, if mistakenly accepted, is void from the outset regardless of the stage of the Contest at which the defect is discovered. NHD Korea may require documentary verification of a Sponsoring School's status at any time, including a school registration number, business registration record, or written confirmation from the competent education authority, and may withhold or reverse acceptance of a registration pending that verification. A Participant, parent or guardian, or purported Sponsoring School representative who registers, or knowingly permits registration, under a school name that does not meet the Section 2 definition is treated as having committed a Registration Violation under Section 6.2 and a fraud-related Conduct Violation under Section 6.5, regardless of whether that party intended to deceive NHD Korea. Where a Participant registers, or is registered, under a purported Sponsoring School that does not meet the Section 2 definition, the Participant (and, where the Participant is a minor, the Participant's parent or legal guardian) and the purported school or the individual who represented it are equally liable for the violation, on a joint and several basis, regardless of which party selected the school name, submitted the registration, or was otherwise primarily responsible; a Participant's status as a minor, or their assertion that they relied on a teacher's or purported school's representation, does not by itself relieve the Participant or their parent or guardian of liability under this Section. NHD Korea may disqualify the affected Entry, bar the individual Participant and the purported school from registering for any future contest cycle, and take any other measure available under Section 7, in addition to the school-specific measures described in this Section. This Section does not limit or restrict a Participant's ability to register as an independent Participant or as a homeschooled Participant, in either case without an affiliated Sponsoring School, under whatever category NHD Korea designates for that purpose. Independent and homeschooled registration is a legitimate registration path and is not, by itself, evidence of a violation of this Section. ### 26.2 Liability and Measures Against a Sponsoring School A Sponsoring School that submits false or unverified eligibility information, that fails to supervise a Participant's compliance with Section 6, or whose staff member engages in conduct described in Section 6.3 or 6.5, is independently liable to NHD Korea to the same extent as a Participant under Section 19. NHD Korea may pursue the Sponsoring School, the Participant, the parent or guardian, or any combination of them, without being required to proceed against one before another. Independent of and in addition to any measure available under Section 7 against a Participant, NHD Korea may, with respect to a Sponsoring School found responsible for a violation under this Section: * suspend the Sponsoring School's ability to register Participants for a future contest cycle; * bar the Sponsoring School from serving as a host venue or judging site; * require the Sponsoring School's administration to certify corrective steps before future registrations from that school are accepted; * notify the Sponsoring School's administration, school district, or relevant education authority of the violation; * disqualify some or all Entries registered through that Sponsoring School for the contest cycle in which the violation occurred, where NHD Korea determines the violation affected the integrity of those Entries. Where a Sponsoring School registers or pays fees on behalf of multiple Participants in a single transaction, the Sponsoring School is financially responsible for those fees on the same nonrefundable basis described in Section 4, in addition to, and not in place of, each Participant's own responsibility for their individual fee. ### 26.3 Prohibition on Registration by Academies, Tutors, and Other Commercial Educational Businesses A paid academy, cram school, tutoring service, test-preparation business, consulting service, or other commercial for-profit educational business (each, an "Academy") is not eligible to register as a Sponsoring School under these Terms and may not register a Participant, submit a Participant's Entry, serve as a Participant's Sponsoring School, or otherwise sponsor a Participant's registration in any capacity. This prohibition applies regardless of whether the Academy holds a business registration, operates under a name containing "학교," "school," "academy," or a similar term, describes itself using language suggesting accreditation, or otherwise represents itself as, or is commonly perceived to be, an educational institution; the Section 2 definition of Sponsoring School, and not an Academy's own description of itself, governs eligibility. A Participant who receives instruction from an Academy remains eligible to register only as an independent Participant or, where applicable, through a Sponsoring School that meets the Section 2 definition, and not through the Academy itself. An Academy that registers, or attempts to register, a Participant, that submits an Entry on a Participant's behalf, or that instructs, assists, or facilitates a Participant's registration under the Academy's name or under a name the Academy controls, is treated as engaging in the fraudulent registration described in Section 26.1, in addition to any violation under Section 6.7 or Section 28.2 that the same conduct may independently constitute. NHD Korea may bar an Academy from any future involvement with the Contest, including as a venue, sponsor, or advertised affiliate, on the same basis described in Section 28.2. An Academy, and any instructor, tutor, or consultant acting on an Academy's behalf, may not provide any assistance whatsoever to a Participant in the research, drafting, design, production, or revision of an Entry, regardless of the amount or degree of assistance, and regardless of whether it is provided for a fee, as part of a broader course of instruction, or otherwise without charge. This is a stricter, zero-tolerance standard than the "substantially" threshold that Section 6.3 applies to a parent, teacher, tutor, or consultant generally, and applies specifically to an Academy because of its commercial and institutional character. An Entry that reflects any Academy assistance prohibited by this paragraph is treated as a violation of Section 6.3 regardless of how minor that assistance was, and the Participant, and where applicable the Participant's parent or legal guardian, remains responsible under Section 25 even where the Academy offered or provided the assistance without the Participant's request. This Section does not restrict a Participant's ability to receive private tutoring, coaching, or instruction from an individual who is not acting on behalf of an Academy, so long as that instruction otherwise complies with the "substantially" standard in Section 6.3, and so long as the Participant registers independently or through a Sponsoring School that meets the Section 2 definition. --- ## 27. Brand Protection; Investigation Using Public Evidence The "National History Day," "NHD," and "NHD Korea" names, and any associated logos, are used by NHD Korea under license from, or by affiliation with, NHD National, and NHD Korea and NHD National retain all rights in those names, marks, and logos. No Participant, judge, volunteer, parent, legal guardian, Sponsoring School, curriculum provider, academy, or other person, adult, or organization associated with a Participant may use these names or marks, or any confusingly similar name or mark, or represent an affiliation, endorsement, or partnership with NHD Korea or NHD National, except as expressly authorized in writing by NHD Korea. This prohibition applies regardless of whether the person or organization is otherwise bound by these Terms, and applies to use in a program name, tutoring or consulting service, business name, curriculum, advertisement, social media account or handle, or any other public-facing material. NHD Korea may investigate a suspected violation of Section 6.7, or any other violation of these Terms, using published or publicly available evidence, including a school's or academy's website, published curriculum or course catalog, advertising or promotional material, social media content, and any other information that is publicly accessible, without being limited to information that a Participant, judge, or Sponsoring School has submitted directly. NHD Korea may rely on such evidence in making a determination under Section 6 and imposing a measure under Section 7, and is not required to disclose its investigative sources as a condition of doing so. Where a person or institution responsible for conduct under Section 6.7 is a Participant, judge, volunteer, or Sponsoring School bound by these Terms, NHD Korea may impose any measure available under Section 7, including disqualification of the responsible individual, disqualification of an associated Entry, and a bar from future participation or future judging. Where a person or institution responsible for conduct under Section 6.7 is not otherwise bound by these Terms, including a curriculum provider, academy, or other third party that has never registered with or accessed NHD Korea's Website, NHD Korea reserves all rights and remedies available under applicable trademark, unfair competition, and other law, including the right to demand that the unauthorized use cease and to pursue legal action, independent of and in addition to any measure available under these Terms against a bound Participant, judge, or Sponsoring School connected to that third party. --- ## 28. Restriction Based on Prior Conduct and Institutional Tolerance of Misconduct ### 28.1 Participants with a History of Academic Dishonesty NHD Korea may deny, condition, or restrict a Participant's registration, in advance of any violation in the current contest cycle, where the Participant has a documented history of an academic-integrity violation under Section 6.3 in a prior NHD Korea contest cycle, or a substantiated finding of plagiarism, fabrication, or similar academic dishonesty reported to NHD Korea by NHD National, another NHD affiliate, or a Sponsoring School. A restriction under this Section may include requiring additional source documentation, requiring early or staged submission for review, requiring the Participant's Sponsoring School or parent or legal guardian to certify the Entry's originality before NHD Korea accepts it, or declining to accept the Participant's registration for a specified number of future contest cycles. NHD Korea is not required to have imposed a measure under Section 7 in the prior cycle as a precondition to acting under this Section, and may act on a substantiated finding regardless of the amount of time that has passed since that finding. ### 28.2 Institutions That Promote or Tolerate Misconduct NHD Korea may bar a Sponsoring School, academy, tutoring service, or other institution from participating in or being associated with the Contest, including refusing to accept a registration submitted through that institution, where NHD Korea determines that the institution: * has directed, encouraged, or materially assisted a Participant in an academic-integrity violation described in Section 6.3; * markets, advertises, or otherwise promotes a service on the basis that it can help a Participant circumvent NHD Korea's academic-integrity requirements, including a service offering to write, substantially edit, or fabricate sourcing for an Entry; * has been notified of a substantiated academic-integrity violation involving one of its students or staff and has not taken reasonable corrective action, including appropriate discipline of the individual involved and reasonable steps to prevent recurrence, within the time NHD Korea specifies; or * has a pattern of Entries registered through it being found responsible for violations under Section 6.3 at a rate that NHD Korea determines is inconsistent with reasonable institutional oversight. A bar under this Section may be limited to a specified number of contest cycles or may be indefinite, at NHD Korea's discretion, and may be lifted where the institution demonstrates corrective action to NHD Korea's satisfaction. This Section is independent of, and in addition to, the measures available against a Sponsoring School under Section 26.2. --- ## 29. Prohibited Items; Concessions; Food and Beverage Disclaimer ### 29.1 Prohibited and Restricted Items NHD Korea may restrict or prohibit a Participant, parent, guardian, teacher, judge, volunteer, or other attendee from bringing an item, material, substance, or good onto Contest venue premises, including any item NHD Korea determines poses a safety risk, is disruptive, is prohibited under Section 6.4, or is prohibited by the venue, host institution, or applicable law. This includes the authority to restrict or prohibit an attendee from bringing onto venue premises any category of item that NHD Korea or its concession licensee sells at the venue under Section 29.2, including food, water, beverages, or stationery and other supplies, and to require that any such item be surrendered, stored outside the venue, or purchased on-site instead. NHD Korea may inspect, confiscate, or require the removal of a prohibited item, and may deny entry to, or remove from the venue, a person who brings a prohibited item onto the premises or who refuses a request to remove or surrender it. ### 29.2 Sale and Licensing of Food, Water, and Beverages NHD Korea may sell, or grant a license or concession right to a third party to sell, food, water, or beverages at a Contest event, and may restrict attendees from bringing outside food or beverages onto venue premises where NHD Korea or the venue determines it appropriate to do so. ### 29.3 No Liability for Food Safety or On-Site Incidents NHD Korea shall not be liable for any illness, injury, allergic reaction, food-safety issue, or other incident arising from food, water, or a beverage sold, provided, or permitted at a Contest event, whether sold or provided directly by NHD Korea or by a licensed or concession third party, and shall not be liable for any accident, injury, illness, loss, or other incident occurring at a Contest venue at any time, including before, during, or after a scheduled event, except to the extent such liability arises from NHD Korea's own gross negligence or willful misconduct and cannot lawfully be disclaimed, consistent with Section 8. This Section is in addition to, and does not limit, Section 8, Section 18, or Section 19. ### 29.4 Venue Confinement and Re-Entry Judges and Participants are expected to remain within the Contest venue for the duration of the event, or the portion of the event to which they have been assigned, except where NHD Korea staff authorizes a departure. NHD Korea may deny re-entry to a judge, Participant, or other attendee who leaves the venue during an event, including where the departure was to obtain food, water, beverages, or a restricted item from outside the venue, and is not obligated to provide a reason for denying re-entry. A denial of re-entry under this Section does not entitle the affected individual to a refund, consistent with Section 4, and where the affected individual is a judge, NHD Korea may treat the departure as grounds for removal from the judging pool for the remainder of the event. ### 29.5 Vehicle Access, Parking, and Citations NHD Korea may deny entry to any vehicle onto venue premises, may charge a fee for parking, and may issue a citation, fine, or ticket for a vehicle's or its driver's violation of posted parking rules, traffic instructions, or another condition NHD Korea or the venue imposes. NHD Korea may deny future vehicle access to a vehicle or driver with an unpaid citation or fee. Where a Participant's parent or legal guardian, or the driver of a vehicle used to transport a Participant to or from the venue, or a vehicle the Participant intends to use for that purpose, refuses to pay a citation, fine, or parking fee issued under this Section, or otherwise refuses to comply with a request NHD Korea makes under this Section, NHD Korea may disqualify the Participant associated with that vehicle, regardless of whether the Participant personally had any role in the vehicle's use, the citation, or the refusal to pay. This Section applies whether the Participant already used the vehicle to reach the venue or intends to use it for a later portion of the same or a future contest cycle, and is subject to the joint and several liability of a parent or legal guardian described in Section 25. ### 29.6 Inspection and Seizure of Property and Vehicles By accepting these Terms and by bringing a bag, container, vehicle, or other property onto venue premises, a Participant, parent, guardian, teacher, judge, volunteer, or other attendee consents to NHD Korea staff, Coordinators, or authorized venue security personnel inspecting that bag, container, vehicle, or other property while it is on venue premises. This is a contractual right of inspection that NHD Korea exercises under these Terms and not an exercise of governmental search authority. NHD Korea may seize and retain an item found during an inspection that is prohibited or restricted under Section 29.1, or that NHD Korea otherwise determines poses a safety risk or violates these Terms, including an item found inside a vehicle covered by Section 29.5. A person who refuses to permit an inspection under this Section may be denied entry to, or removed from, the venue, and NHD Korea may treat that refusal as grounds for a measure described in Section 7. Where an item seized under this Section appears to violate applicable law, NHD Korea may refer the item and the circumstances of its discovery to the venue, the person's Sponsoring School, or the appropriate authority, in addition to any measure available under these Terms. NHD Korea is not obligated to return a seized item, and is not liable for damage, loss, or diminished value resulting from an inspection or seizure conducted in good faith under this Section, except to the extent such liability arises from NHD Korea's own gross negligence or willful misconduct and cannot lawfully be disclaimed, consistent with Section 8. --- ## 30. General Provisions ### 30.1 No Waiver NHD Korea's failure to enforce a provision of these Terms, or a delay in enforcing it, is not a waiver of that provision and does not prevent NHD Korea from enforcing it later, including against the same Participant, parent, guardian, judge, or Sponsoring School with respect to a later or continuing violation. A waiver is effective only if NHD Korea states it in writing and signed by an authorized officer of NHD Korea, and a waiver given with respect to one Participant, contest cycle, or violation does not apply to any other Participant, contest cycle, or violation. ### 30.2 Assignment; Successors NHD Korea may assign, transfer, sublicense, or delegate any or all of its rights and obligations under these Terms, including to NHD National, a successor organization, or an entity that acquires substantially all of NHD Korea's operations, without a Participant's consent and without notice. A Participant, parent, guardian, judge, or Sponsoring School may not assign or transfer any right or obligation under these Terms without NHD Korea's prior written consent, and any attempted assignment in violation of this Section is void. These Terms bind and benefit each party's respective heirs, successors, and permitted assigns, including binding a Participant after they reach the age of majority to the same extent the Participant's parent or legal guardian accepted these Terms on the Participant's behalf. ### 30.3 Survival A provision of these Terms that by its nature is intended to continue after a Participant's disqualification, withdrawal, or the conclusion of a contest cycle survives that event, including the fee and no-refund provisions of Section 4, the disqualification and disciplinary provisions of Sections 6 and 7, the assumption of risk in Section 8, the finality and waiver provisions of Section 9, the intellectual property license in Section 11, the indemnification obligation in Section 19, the limitation of liability in Section 18, and this Section 30. ### 30.4 Set-Off Where a Participant, parent or legal guardian, judge, or Sponsoring School owes an amount to NHD Korea under these Terms, including under the indemnification obligation in Section 19 or the disruption-liability provision in Section 10, NHD Korea may set off and deduct that amount from any amount NHD Korea otherwise owes to that party, to the extent applicable law permits. ### 30.5 Costs of Enforcement Where NHD Korea takes an action to enforce these Terms, or to defend a claim that these Terms bar or limit, and prevails, the Participant, parent or legal guardian, judge, or Sponsoring School against whom NHD Korea prevailed is responsible for NHD Korea's reasonable costs of enforcement or defense, including reasonable attorneys' fees, to the extent applicable law permits a party to recover such costs by agreement. Where applicable law requires a reciprocal or mutual fee-shifting arrangement as a condition of enforcing this Section, this Section shall be read as reciprocal only to that minimum extent required, and no further. ### 30.6 Language of Interpretation These Terms may be made available in Korean or another language in addition to English. Where a conflict or inconsistency exists between the English version and a translated version, the English version controls, except where applicable law requires the Korean version to control for a Participant who is a Korean-language speaker, in which case the Korean version controls solely to the extent that law requires. ### 30.7 Notices and Electronic Communications NHD Korea may deliver a notice, decision, or communication required or permitted under these Terms by posting it on the Website, by email to the address a Participant or Sponsoring School provided at registration, or by another method NHD Korea reasonably selects, and such delivery is effective whether or not the recipient actually reads it. Each Participant, parent or legal guardian, judge, and Sponsoring School consents to receiving communications from NHD Korea electronically and agrees that an electronic communication satisfies any requirement that a communication be in writing. ### 30.8 Recording and Surveillance at Venues NHD Korea may operate security cameras, audio or video recording equipment, or other monitoring systems at a Contest venue for safety, security, and evidentiary purposes, and by attending a Contest event, a Participant, parent, guardian, teacher, judge, volunteer, or other attendee consents to being recorded on such systems. This Section is independent of, and in addition to, the promotional media release in Section 12, and covers monitoring for security and evidentiary purposes regardless of whether the resulting recording is ever used for a promotional purpose.