Photo Collective (Stories) Terms & Conditions

General
1.1. This photography competition is conducted by PHOTO COLLECTIVE PTY LTD (ACN 638 969 043) (“the Promoter”).
1.2. Information on how to enter and on prizes form part of the Terms and Conditions. Entry into this competition deems acceptance of these Terms and Conditions.
1.3. To the extent of any inconsistency between these Terms and Conditions and any other reference to this competition, these Terms and Conditions prevail.
1.4. This is a non-acquisitive photography competition governed by these Terms and Conditions. All instructions relating to the competition on this website also form part of the Terms and Conditions.
1.5. The Promoter reserves the right to amend these Terms and Conditions. The Promoter may also cancel or suspend this competition if an event beyond the control of the Promoter corrupts or affects the administration security, fairness, integrity or proper conduct of this competition. The Promoter will disqualify any individual who has tampered with the entry process or any other aspect of this competition.

Who can enter?
2.1. Photo Collective – Stories (Stories) is open to any person provided they meet the requirements of the categories
2.1.1 The Australian Category is only open to persons residing within Australia or any person living outside of Australia with Australian citizenship or permanent residency
2.1.2 The International Category is open to anybody residing outside of Australia without an Australian citizenship or permanent residency
2.2. Stories is open to professional photographers, amateurs and enthusiasts.
2.3. There is no age limit on entering Stories. For participants under 18 years of age, parent or guardian consent is required. The consenting guardian is then bound by these Terms and Conditions. Please note, entry fees apply to every submission.
2.4. Employees, judging committee and agents of the Promoter are not eligible to enter the competition.

How to enter
3.1. Entries will only be accepted from 25th March 2022 to 23rd May 2022. No entries will be accepted after 11:59pm AEST 23rd May 2022.
3.2. Entrants must follow the instructions provided online at www.photocollective.com.au/stories. In the case of any inconsistency between these Terms and Conditions and the Stories Submission Info, these Terms and Conditions shall prevail.
3.3. Entrants must submit between 6 – 10 images along with a series title and series description. All images within the submission must be part of the series.
3.4. Each series will attract a separate fee.
3.5. Each entry must comply with these Terms and Conditions, including the Submission Guidelines specified below.
3.6. Entries must meet the Technical Specifications as follows:
3.6.1. Images must be saved as High Quality JPEGs;
3.6.2. Each image must be at least 3000px in size
3.6.3. Both Adobe RGB (1998) and sRGB accepted
3.7. An entry fee of $45USD must be paid for each series submitted. All entry fees are to be processed via Stripe online payments. Any applicable currency conversions will be in accordance with Stripe’s policies and the Promoter accepts no responsibility for any loss or damage that may be incurred as a result of currency conversion.
3.8 Promoter is not responsible for any misdirected, late or incomprehensible entries in the competition.

Submission guidelines
4.1. Entries that have been submitted into Australian Photography Awards in previous years are eligible as a series and will be considered for judging.
4.2. Entries which have been submitted into Stories in previous years are eligible provided there is significant development in the imagery or concept of the series.
4.3. Entries must not violate any copyright or any persons’ rights of privacy. The Promoter may seek proof of ethical and or legal permissions where applicable. Upon alleged breach of copyright, the Promoter will seek both legal and industry guidance. The Promoter does not accept any liability for the copyright infringement of an entrant.
4.4. All details provided by the entrant must be true and accurate.
4.5. The entrant is responsible for determining the appropriate permissions or model releases for their entries if required. The Promoter does not request model release forms with entries.
4.6. Images submitted with watermarks or branding on them will not be considered for judging and will be disqualified.
4.7. The Promoter reserves the right to disqualify images upon the basis of plagiarism. Plagiarism will be decided upon by The Promoter through the guidance of legal and industry affiliates.
4.8. Entries that are found to breach these Terms and Conditions, will be considered invalid and, if awarded a prize, that prize must be returned to the Promoter. The winners may be required to sign a statutory declaration regarding the originality of the entry. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the Promoter reserves the right to take legal action against anyone found to have breached these terms. The Promoter reserves the right in its sole discretion to disqualify any individual who the Promoter has reason to believe has breached any of these conditions, or engaged in any unlawful or other improper misconduct calculated to jeopardise the fair and proper conduct of the promotion. The Promoter’s legal rights to recover damages or other compensation are reserved.

Judging
5.1 The initial review of submissions will shortlist 20 entrants from the Australian Category, and 20 entrants from the International Category, and will be completed by Photo Collective administration. Whilst entrants will not win a prize as a result of being shortlisted, they will be recognised through the Photo Collective platform.
5.2 The top 20 highest scoring series’ from the Australian Category along with the top 20 highest scoring series’ from the International Category will be deliberated and discussed by the external judging committees.
5.3 The top 20 highest scoring series’ from the Australian category, along with the top 10 highest scoring series’ from the International Category will be selected as ‘Finalists’ and included in the Stories Annual publication and the 2022 Stories Event in Melbourne, Australia.
5.4 All costs associated with the Stories Annual publication and the 2022 Stories Event will be covered by The Promoter
5.5 The Judging Committee will determine two winning submissions from the Australian Category, and one winning submission from the International Category.
5.6 If any of the series’ are found to be in breach of these Terms and Conditions, the Promoter reserves the right to disqualify that submission.
5.7 There will be no correspondence between entrants and judges throughout this process.
5.8 The judges’ decision in relation to any aspect of the competition is final and binding. Prizes are not transferable or exchangeable and, with the exception of cash prizes, cannot be taken as cash. Prizes will be sent to the winner’s nominated address.
5.9 Prizes with the exception of cash, will not be sent internationally.

Prizes
6.1. There will be two equal prize recipients for Australian Category of Stories and a one prize recipient for the International Category.
6.1.1. The two rewarded Australian Category submissions will receive – Cash Prize of $2,000AUD, Nikon Z Camera Kit to the value of $4,000AUD, Featured in the 2022 Stories Publication, Featured in the Stories 2022 Event (Melbourne, Australia) and a Momento Pro voucher $375AUD
6.1.2. The single rewarded International Category submission will receive – Cash Prize $3,000AUD, Featured in the 2022 Stories Publication, Featured in the Stories 2022 Event (Melbourne, Australia)
6.2. To be awarded as the winner, the winner must be agreed upon by the judging panel.
6.3. Winners will be announced in July 2022 at the 2022 Stories Event and through our website, newsletter and social media platforms.
6.4. All decisions from the judging panel are final and binding on each entrant and no correspondence will be entered into.
6.5. Any winner subsequently found by the Promoter to have breached these Terms and Conditions must return any awarded prize within 30 days of a request to do so. The Promoter will have the final decision on what to do with the prizes.
6.6 The Promoter will not be responsible for any costs associated with delivery of the prizes unless specifically stated in these Terms and Conditions.

Rights
7.1. All copyright remains with the photographer / entrant.
7.2. The Promoter asserts no claims to the rights of any image entered into the competition.
7.3. If the Promoter uses any images through website or social media channels the photographer / entrant will be credited. Entrants consent to the use of their images in this way.
7.4. By entering Stories, entrants grant the Promoter use of credited images through the Promoter’s website, newsletter and social media channels to promote Photo Collective and subsidiary endeavours at any time in the future.
7.5. At any time, if an entrant decides they do not want their image used by the Promoter in the way stipulated in 7.4, the Promoter will oblige.
7.6. It is the entrant’s responsibility to protect their work from infringement by third parties by, at a minimum, entering metadata into the image. The Promoter will not be liable for any third party misuse of images.
7.7. Each entrant acknowledges that the Promoter is under no obligation to use their submission.
7.8. If there is any point where the competition needs to be postponed by [six weeks] or less entry fees will not be refunded. When the Promoter recommences the competition all previous entries will be automatically included.
7.9. If there is a point when the Promoter must cancel the competition all entry fees will be refunded.

Website use
8.1. You must not use the Stories website content to distribute, reproduce, publish, alter, modify, create derivative or exploit such contents for commercial benefit.
8.2. You may not transmit any unsolicited or unauthorised advertising, collect any available personal information from the Stories Website on other individuals or upload personal information of other individuals, including their names, address, phone number or any other identifying information.
8.3. The Promoter cannot guarantee the continuous integrity of its servers. As a result, you may at times experience disruption or other difficulties in using the Stories website. The Promoter has no liability for loss or costs of any kind you suffer as a result of or in connection with any disruption or other difficulties in using the Photo Collective, Stories, Picter and/or Australian Photography Awards websites. The Promoter is not responsible for any failure of equipment or technical error associated with the competition or for any incorrect information, commission, interruption or delay in operation.
8.4. The Promoter is not responsible for any theft, unauthorised access or distribution of any entries.

9. Automatic logging of information
9.1 IP (Internet Protocol) addresses (an IP is the address of a computer) of visitors are automatically logged by our servers. The server makes a record of your visit and logs limited information for statistical purposes – your IP address, top-level domain name (.com, .gov, .edu, .com.au etc), the date and time of your visit to our site, pages accessed and documents downloaded, previous site visits to Photo Collective, Picter, Australian Photography Awards and Stories and the type of browser used. These logs are used to administer the website and to diagnose problems in order to be able to rectify them. This data is also used for audience research to help us to improve the site.
9.2 IP addresses do not ordinarily contain any personally identifiable information and are aggregated for analysis. Such aggregate data may be used by the Promoter. Recording usage patterns helps us to identify popular areas of our site and helps us to improve the site. Reports generated on aggregate data are periodically reported on as part of the the Promoter’s internal governance.

10. Use of cookies
10.1 A cookie is a small file sent by the Photo Collective, Picter, Australian Photography Awards and/or Stories web server to your web browser software when you access the Photo Collective, Australian Photography Awards, Picter and/or Stories website. Some parts of the Photo Collective, Australian Photography Awards, Picter and/or Stories website may use cookies to maintain contact through a session. The cookies allow us to recognise you as you move from one page of this website to another. The cookies that are used by the Photo Collective, Australian Photography Awards, Picter and/or Stories website do not collect any personal information and we do not combine information collected through cookies with other personal information to tell us who you are other than to authenticate the user for security purposes. If you prefer not to receive cookies, you can adjust your internet browser to refuse cookies or to warn you when cookies are being used. Refusal may make some parts of our websites inaccessible, unusable, or not function correctly.

Stories also uses the following companies and technologies:
11.1 Google Analytics to analyse usage statistics on our websites. This analysis is performed using data collected from the stories.australianphotographyawards.com.au, australianphotographyawards.com.au, contests.picter.com/stories-2022 and/or photocollective.com.au website/s and is used to improve the web experience of our users. No personally identifiable information is collected by Google from this website by the use of cookies. You can find out more about the kinds of information that Google collects in their Privacy Policy.
11.2 Google Adwords to provide remarketing, online advertisement delivery and tracking. Google uses cookies to serve ads based on past visits to our website. You can find information about how you can opt out of Google’s use of cookies by visiting Google’s Ads Settings. Alternatively, you opt out of a third-party vendor’s use of cookies by visiting the Network Advertising Initiative opt-out page.
11.3 Meta to provide online advertisement delivery and tracking. Information on Meta’s advertising policy and instructions on how to opt-out are available on their website.

External links and social networking sites:
12.1 This site contains links to other sites. The Promoter is not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of such web sites. The Promoter is also active in several social networking spaces such as Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Instagram, YouTube and Vimeo. Please be aware that the Promoter is not responsible for the privacy practices of these external platforms and users should familiarise themselves with each platform’s conditions prior to contributing in these spaces.

Privacy Collection Statement
13.1. By submitting an entry into this competition or voting in the People’s Choice entrants and voters consent to receive promotional and other marketing messages from the Promoter (including messages sent electronically for an unlimited period of time). Entrants and voters will be able to opt-out at any time by following the instructions included in each message sent by the Promoter.
13.2. The Promoter and its related entities collect entrants’ personal information for the purpose of conducting and promoting this competition (including but not limited to determining and notifying winners). The Promoter may disclose personal information collected to an agent who is engaged for prize fulfilment. The Promoter may also disclose personal information collected to Australian regulatory authorities. The Promoter will otherwise handle your personal information in accordance with its Privacy Policy available at www.photocollective.com.au and its subsidiaries. You may request access to or update your personal information or lodge a complaint by writing to The Privacy Officer, at [email protected].

Liability and Governing Law
14.1. Nothing in these Terms and Conditions limits, excludes or modifies or purports to limit, exclude or modify the statutory consumer guarantees as provided under the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth), as well as any other implied warranties under the Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act 2001 (Cth) or similar consumer protection laws in the State and Territories of Australia (‘Non-Excludable Guarantees’). For any Non-Excludable Guarantee in relation to any prizes awarded under these Terms and Conditions for which the Promoter is able to limit the remedy for a breach, the liability of the Promoter for breach of the Non-Excludable Guarantee is limited to one or more of the following at the Promoter’s option:
a. the replacement of the prize or the supply of an equivalent prize;
b. the repair of the prize;
c. the supplying of the prize again;
d. the payment of the cost of replacing the prize or of acquiring an equivalent prize;
e. the payment of the cost of having the prize repaired; or
f. the payment of the costs of having the prize supplied again.
14.2. With respect to this competition, except for any liability that cannot by law be excluded, including the Non-Excludable Guarantees, the Promoter (including its respective officers, employees and agents) is not responsible for and excludes all liability (including for negligence), for any personal injury; or any loss or damage (including loss of opportunity); whether direct, indirect, special or consequential, arising in any way out of, relating to, or in any way connected with: (a) any technical difficulties or equipment malfunction (whether or not under the Promoter’s control); (b) any theft, unauthorised access or third party interference; (c) any entry or prize claim that is late, lost, altered, damaged or misdirected (whether or not after their receipt by the Promoter) due to any reason beyond the reasonable control of the Promoter; or (d) any tax liability incurred by a winner or entrant.
14.3. To the maximum extent permitted by law, the Promoter expressly disclaims liability for any loss or damage whatsoever (including but not limited to indirect or consequential loss) or for any personal injury which is suffered or sustained in connection with any entrant’s participation in the competition or the acceptance of the prizes. The winners indemnify the Promoter against any liability, injury, loss or damage which may be suffered, incurred or sustained by the Promoter arising out of, relating to, or in any way connected with, any act or omission (including negligence) by the winners, or their use of the prizes, or their breach of these Terms and Conditions.
14.4. Prize-winners are advised that tax implications may arise from their prize winnings and they should seek independent financial advice prior to acceptance of that prize.
14.5. The competition is governed by the laws of Victoria, Australia. Each entrant irrevocably agrees that the courts of Victoria shall have exclusive jurisdiction to hear and decide any suit, action or proceedings and/or to settle any disputes which may arise out of or in connection with the competition and, for these purposes, each entrant irrevocably submits to the exclusive and binding jurisdiction of the courts of Victoria.