I decided to have a look at the terms and conditions to see what they say about re-use of the submitted entries.
The terms listed on the AP website (
https://amateurphotographer.com/lat...of-the-year-competition-now-open-for-entries/) are fairly brief and inoccous:
"You can submit photos taken on black and white, colour negative or colour slide film, or any combination, but all photos must have been taken on a physical film during 2024. Images must be submitted as digital scans (please do NOT send prints or slides) which must be at least 2000 pixels on their longest side. Some minor digital editing is permitted but the core character of the emulsion must be retained.
You must be residents of the UK to enter. Winning photographers will be required to verify that their portfolio images were all shot on film.
Photographers found to have uploaded imagery taken on digital cameras to this contest will have their Photocrowd accounts deactivated. Photographers found to have uploaded AI-generated imagery to this contest will be at risk of prosecution and damages will be sought."
However to upload entries, you have to have an account with Photocrowd.com .... and they have a much longer set of terms and conditions, including the following sections:
"Photocrowd.com seeks no ownership of the Content submitted to the website and respects and supports the rights of the creator and/or owner. Copyright remains with the image creator and/or owner at all times and you retain all rights to the Content that you previously enjoyed. However, by submitting Content to our website you represent and warrant to Photocrowd.com that you are the original photographer of, and accordingly all rights, including copyright in and to the Content are owned by you or you have the permission of the copyright holder and that Photocrowd.com is free to use the Content as provided in these Terms without obtaining permission or a licence from any third party. By uploading your Content to the Photocrowd.com website you agree that we may:
• use, reproduce, distribute and display the Content, within the scope of the various functionalities of our website and Services from time to time, including without limitation making it available for sharing with other users and on other platforms and through other channels;
• permit any partner that operates a photo challenge in conjunction with us to use Content submitted for such challenge for any purpose, as long as the challenge is referenced in any such use;
• with your express consent, grant rights of use to third parties (each a “Customer”) in respect of the Content, including by way of licensing stock image electronic downloads and sales of physical articles, items and merchandise containing the Content including without limitation prints, posters and wall products (“Products”) ;
• if you have consented to rights of use to your Content being granted to Customers in accordance with the above, appoint third party distributors or agents to facilitate the same and sublicence the Content to such parties;
• include the Content in marketing material sent to other platforms and channels in conjunction with challenges;
• advertise and promote our Services using the Content;
• enable you to purchase Products containing your Content from the site, using our preferred providers, with all such purchases benefitting from a 30-day money back guarantee; and
• use the Content for such other purposes as we may from time to time reasonably determine."
So whilst you don't lose copyright, and could therefore presumably continue to use your images for your own purposes, Photocrowd can do almost anything with them, without paying the photographer.
The prize fund for the contest is pretty modest - £4000 - so this is a pretty cheap way to acquire the rights to some images.
I'm not sure I would have entered anyway, but having read these terms I definitely won't be entering.
