StoryForge — Detailed Competition Rules
1. Eligibility
StoryForge competitions are open to participants who meet the eligibility requirements stated for each competition. Age, location, entry limits, and other requirements may vary by challenge. Participants must provide accurate information when entering and must be legally eligible to receive any prize awarded.
2. Competition Requirements
Every StoryForge competition has its own prompt, creative requirements, submission format, deadline, judging criteria, and prize information. Participants are responsible for reviewing and following the requirements of the competition they enter. If competition-specific requirements differ from these general rules, the requirements stated for that competition will apply.
3. Use of AI
All StoryForge competitions require AI to be used as part of the creative process.
Human creativity leads. AI amplifies. How AI is used may vary depending on the competition and creative medium. Individual challenges may establish requirements regarding AI tools, techniques, formats, or the role AI plays in producing the final work. Participants are responsible for complying with the terms and usage requirements of the AI tools and other services they use.
4. Original Work & Rights
Submissions must represent the entrant's own creative work. Entrants are responsible for ensuring they have the rights and permissions necessary to submit all elements included in their entry. Entries must not knowingly infringe another person's copyright, trademark, privacy, publicity, or other legal rights.
5. Real People, Voices & Likenesses
If an entry uses the recognizable image, likeness, voice, identity, or other personal characteristics of a real person, the entrant is responsible for complying with applicable laws and obtaining permission when required.
6. Prohibited Content
Entries may not contain unlawful material or content that violates the rights of another person. StoryForge may reject or remove an entry that violates these rules, the requirements of a competition, applicable law, or the rights of others.
7. Judging
Entries will be evaluated by a judging panel using the criteria established for each competition. Criteria may include creativity, storytelling, interpretation of the prompt, technical execution, cohesion, originality, and overall impact. Judges evaluate submissions independently. Judging decisions are final.
8. Creative Process Verification
StoryForge may request reasonable information about the AI tools, techniques, or creative process used to produce an entry when necessary to verify compliance with competition requirements. Entrants will not normally be required to disclose private prompts, unpublished source materials, or other confidential creative information unless specifically required by the rules of a particular competition.
9. Creator Ownership
Creators retain ownership of their submitted work. StoryForge does not claim ownership or copyright in an entry simply because it is submitted to a competition. Entering a StoryForge competition does not prevent a creator from publishing, displaying, selling, licensing, or otherwise using their work elsewhere.
10. Winning Entries & Showcase Permission
By entering, participants agree that if their entry is selected as a winner, StoryForge may display and showcase the winning work on the StoryForge website and through StoryForge-related channels, including The StoryForge Project and Dark Waters Rising. This permission is non-exclusive. The creator continues to own the work. Creators will be credited when their winning work is showcased. Winning does not transfer copyright or ownership to StoryForge, and creators remain free to publish, display, sell, license, or otherwise use their work elsewhere.
11. Prizes
Prize amounts, award categories, and any special prize conditions will be stated for each competition. Winners may be required to verify their identity and eligibility before receiving a prize. Winners are responsible for any applicable taxes or reporting obligations associated with prizes they receive. Prize payment procedures and expected payment timing will be communicated to winners.
12. Deadlines & Submissions
Entries must be submitted through the official StoryForge submission process before the stated deadline. Late, incomplete, ineligible, corrupted, or incorrectly formatted submissions may be disqualified. StoryForge is not responsible for submission failures caused by an entrant's device, internet connection, software, or other systems outside StoryForge's reasonable control.
13. Cancellations, Changes & Refunds
StoryForge may cancel, postpone, extend, or modify a competition when reasonably necessary because of insufficient participation, technical problems, circumstances beyond its control, or other conditions that prevent the competition from being conducted fairly. If StoryForge cancels a paid competition without awarding the advertised prizes, affected entrants will receive a refund of their entry fee. Any minimum-entry requirement or additional refund conditions will be disclosed as part of the individual competition.
14. Fair Play
Participants may not plagiarize another creator's work, impersonate another person, submit entries using false identities, manipulate judging, interfere with another participant's entry, or otherwise attempt to gain an unfair advantage. Violations may result in disqualification.
15. Rights Disputes
Entrants are responsible for the content of their submissions. If StoryForge receives a credible complaint regarding copyright, ownership, likeness, privacy, or other rights associated with an entry, StoryForge may temporarily remove the entry or withhold a prize while the matter is reviewed. StoryForge does not determine ownership disputes between creators and third parties.
16. Privacy
Personal information collected during competition entry may be used to administer the competition, communicate with entrants, verify eligibility, award prizes, and for other purposes described in the StoryForge Privacy Policy. Where practical, entries may be presented to judges without personally identifying information about the entrant.
17. Disqualification
StoryForge may disqualify an entry that does not meet the competition requirements, violates these rules, infringes the rights of others, contains prohibited material, provides false information, or attempts to compromise the fairness or integrity of a competition.
18. Agreement to the Rules
By submitting an entry, participants confirm that they have reviewed and agree to these Detailed Competition Rules and the specific requirements of the competition they are entering. Entering a StoryForge competition does not transfer ownership of the entrant's creative work to StoryForge.