A Guide to Creating Fair Competition Terms and Conditions

This guide has been written to help organisers of photography competitions create terms and conditions that specify the image usage rights they need for photographs submitted to their contests.

Sample terms and conditions are provided and the guidance is written such that the terms and conditions created will comply with the standards set out in the Bill of Rights for Photography Competitions.

If you are unfamiliar with photographic rights and licensing please read the Guide to Rights and Licensing before using this guide. That guide steps through the various concepts that need to be understood before you create terms and conditions for your photography competition.

Don't be tempted to copy terms and conditions from another contest, that could be a serious mistake. Terms and conditions from another contest may not be appropriate for yours, nor can you be sure that they provide you with protection against potential legal actions that may arise from photography competitions. It is also possible that copied T&C's could be unfair to entrants and result in bad publicity for your contest.

If you are using a lawyer to draft your contest terms and conditions, and we would recommend that most organisers seek legal advice, then bring the Bill of Rights for Photography Competitions and this Guide to your lawyers attention.

This guide is split into three parts. The first part deals with the statements you need in your terms and conditions to set out the responsibilities of entrants to your photo competition with regard to the rights of others.

The second part deals with the statements you need in the terms and conditions which set out the rights the entrants are to grant your organisation by entering the contest.

The third part  deals with judging, release documents and the closing date for entries to your competition.

Note that the Bill of Rights for Photography Competitions has made special provisions for charities and non-profit making bodies that depend on donation or subscriptions to support their cause. Full details are given in the section of the Bill of Rights entitled 'Arrangements For Charities & Non-Profit Organisations'. Note however that charities and non-profit making organizations should create terms and conditions as per this guide and only seek specific additional rights by voluntary donation as described in the Bill of Rights.

Conventions used in this Guide

Italics.        Note that all sample terms and conditions displayed in this guide are shown in italics.

Bold.         In the sample terms and conditions the phrases Competition Name and Organization Name appear in bold to indicate that you should substitute these phrases wherever they appear with the name of your competition and organization respectively.

( text )        Note also that in some of the sample terms and conditions there are optional clauses and/or phrases that may or may not apply to your contest. They are shown in brackets ( ).  Include or exclude such optional clauses or phrases within your own terms and conditions as appropriate.

<n >           Indicates the number of years that you need the right to use entrants images for. When creating your own terms and conditions from the sample terms and conditions given in this guide replace <n > with the appropriate number of years.