Terms & Conditions

1. The Scottish Landscape Photographer of the Year (“the Competition”) is an annual photography competition owned and run by Breeze Media Ltd (“the Organiser”), whose registered office is at Terrygowan Croft, Aberdeenshire AB51 7QT.

2.  Entry is open to anyone from the UK and overseas. All amateurs, professionals, clubs and online groups are welcome to enter.  .

3.  The Competition comprises of the overall winners award,  4 adult awards and 5 special awards.

i) The Grand Title (Overall Award)
ii) Landscape Category
iii) Seascape Category
iv) Urban Category
v) The Four Seasons Awards
vi) The Monochrome award
vii) The Fragile Planet Award
viii) The John Muir Trust Awards
ix) The Weather Award

3.1   The overall title “Scottish Landscape Photographer of the Year” shall be awarded to the entrant who, in the opinion of the judges, has submitted the best portfolio of 3 (three) images.
3.2 The winners of the Landscape, Seascape & Urban Landscape shall be awarded to the entrant who in the opinion of the judges has submitted the best single image in each category.
3.3 The winners of all special awards are awarded to the best single image in each catgory and are judged externally by sponsors & judges
3.4  Entrants may enter only once up to a maximum of 15 images.

4. Prizes – each winner & runner up will receive a copy of the book. Commended entrants win a place in the Collection 9 book.

4.1 Sponsor prizes – sponsor prizes will be provided by the relevant sponsor.

5. Route to entry for the Competition and details of how to enter are via https://slpoty.co.uk/comp9/

6. The competition opening and closing dates are published and/or updated on the FAQs page at https://slpoty.co.uk/faqs. After the closing date no further entries to the Competition will be permitted.

7. No responsibility can be accepted for entries not received for whatever reason.

8. The Organiser reserves the right to cancel or amend the Competition and these terms and conditions without notice in the event of a catastrophe, act of God or any actual or anticipated breach of any applicable law or regulation or any other event outside of the promoter’s control. Any changes to the Competition will be notified to entrants as soon as possible by the Organiser.

9. The Organiser is not responsible for inaccurate prize details supplied to any entrant by any third party or sponsor connected with this Competition.

10. No cash alternative to the prizes will be offered. The prizes are not transferable. Prizes are subject to availability and we reserve the right to substitute any prize with another of equivalent value without giving notice.

11.1 Winners – Winner(s) of each category will be chosen from a final shortlist. The shortlists occur after preliminary judging rounds have been completed. Judging is performed by a panel of judges.  Entrants progressing to any subsequent stage of the competition are notified by email only.

11.2  It is the responsibility of the entrant to check and respond to emails sent from the Competition in a timely fashion and ensure uploads are made within competition deadlines. All entrants should add the official competition email to the whitelist or approved senders list of their email account.

11.3  The judging phases occur between January-February and the winners announced approximately 4 weeks later. It is the responsibility of the entrant to monitor the following for updates during this period and look out for emails requesting hi-res images:

  • their email, spam/junk folder
  • the Competition website and faqs page – updates will be published frequently
  • the Competition’s social media pages where updates will be published frequently
  • their user account where updates will be listed

11.4 The Organisers cannot be held liable for any emails, sent by the Competition, that do not arrive due to the entrant’s email spam settings, security settings or other restrictions placed by their ISP or any other reason.

11.5 No entries or image uploads will be accepted after any deadline has passed.

11.6  The organisers will not enter into any correspondence with any entrant regarding, disappointment, why they didn’t win. why they didn’t do better,  missing deadlines for uploading or submitting images for shortlists and judging stages.

11.7  Proof of electronic submission is not held as proof of receipt by the Organisers.

11.8  The Organisers cannot accept liability for any hurt feelings, disappointment, loss, damage or injury incurred as a result of participation in, or other involvement with, the Competition.

11.9  The Organisers cannot be held responsible for damage to any computers or other technical equipment relating to, or resulting from participation in the Competition or from the download of materials connected to the Competition.

12. Successful entrants should not disclose their success to any party, friends, family or post on social media until AFTER the official notification.Any entrant that leaks details will be disqualified.

13. Copyright. The Copyright of each image entered is retained by its respective photographer. Each entrant confirms and warrants that:

i) they own the copyright and all IP rights of each image submitted to the competition;
ii) they are the sole author of each entry and it is their own original work;
iii) they have obtained all necessary permissions from the owner(s) of any property, structures and/or buildings included in their images for usage rights required by the competition and will indemnify the Organisers and/or Sponsors against any claims made by any 3rd parties in respect of such infringement.
iv) they have not licensed images or disposed of any rights that would conflict with publicity and/or promotion of the Competition

13.1. Each entrant acknowledges that entry into the Competition does not grant them any rights in any intellectual property of the Competition. Each entrant agrees not to use any names, titles, logos or other intellectual property rights to make any public statement that may mislead the public or bring the Competition, and/or its Sponsors into disrepute.

13.2 Publicity, media, usage & reproduction. Entrants agree to the use of his/her name, contact details, website and image(s) in any post publicity material of the Competition without compensation. Entrants agree to their contact information being shared with Sponsors for purposes of notification/delivery of prizes, notification of special offers/discounts exclusive to the Competition. Entrants grant the Organisers and its sponsors a non-exclusive, irrevocable licence to publish, reproduce, enlarge and/or exhibit, on any media, the images for any purpose connected with the Competition. This may include, but is not limited to:

i) publicity in press, promotional and marketing materials in hard copy or digital media;
ii) inclusion in the Competition book, calendar & postcards in hard copy or digital media;
iii) on the Competition website and on the websites of sponsors;
iv) on display at public exhibitions, public electronic displays;
v) on social and print media used by the Organisers & sponsors;
vi) promotional merchandise, products in official shops endorsed by the Competition.

14. Copyright, intellectual property & permissions (The Competition and Organisers).

14.1  Use of branding, Awards, Commendations and Titles by entrants. The brand and term “The Scottish Landscape Photographer of the Year” is the intellectual property of the Competition. All Awards, Commendations and Titles thereof are also the intellectual property of the Competition. Use of Awards, Commendations and Titles are granted to and restricted to entrants having won an award, commendation or a title and may only be used to include the term “The Scottish Landscape Photographer of the Year” to promote their images, products and services (e.g. workshops) on their own personal websites, personal endeavours or existing self employed endeavours.  Any unauthorised use of the Competition’s intellectual property shall be considered a breach of the Competition’s intellectual property and an infringement of the copyright of the Competition.

14.1.2 Commercial use. The definition of Commercial use is a broad legal term whereby any activity that generates income for an organisation is Commercial use. Commercial use of the Competition’s intellectual property, branding, awards, commendations and titles is strictly forbidden for all entrants outside of personal endeavours. For clarity, the Competition recognises that entrants may have existing endeavours which generate income for themselves, therefore it is permitted for that entrant to list any award, commendation or title they have won on their existing endeavours. For example, an entrant that has an established personal or self employed business selling prints or workshops, they may include their award on their website, social media pages and business cards.

Entrants may not list their award, commendation or title on any third party company, employer, shop or organisation’s material that generates income for that company.  For example, if an award winner works for a printing company selling prints or a photography tour company selling workshops, they may not allow their employer to list or advertise their award, commendation or title on their websites, social media pages or advertising material.  The entrant’s employer did not win the award and is therefore not legally entitled to generate income from it.  Listing of awards on commercial endeavours can also mislead the general public, therefore it is the responsibility of the award winner to ensure that their employers do not exploit the Competition’s intellectual property by listing awards on any commercial endeavour. Award winners that knowingly and intentionally allow their awards to be listed on their employer’s or any third party’s commercial endeavours shall be in breach of the Competition’s Terms.

14.1.3 Any third party using the Competition’s intellectual property without permission from the Organisers shall be in breach of UK Copyright laws and be liable for our commercial usage fees.

14.1.4 Non-award winners may not use the competition’s intellectual property on their personal endeavours in such as away as to deceive or mislead the public. For example, it is permitted to say “shortlisted in the Scottish Landscape Photographer of the Year” but it is not permitted to claim credit for any award, commendation or title that was never won.

14.2  Media use of images from the competition for publication in newspapers, magazines, online websites & social media etc. Permission should be sought prior to any publication unless a press release has been sent to the media outlet. All articles should include a hyperlink to the Competition website and/or a link to the official Competition social media channels. All published images should credit the photographer using the © sign followed by the photographer’s name and/or “The Scottish Landscape Photographer of the Year”. Images supplied for publication (or review) in any printed, online or interactive media should not be overlaid with any form of advertising or product placement. Images supplied for publication (or review) in any online media should not be overlaid with surveys, popups or any form of clickbait that forces the visitor to click or partake in such before the image can be viewed. Images supplied for publication in any print or online media should be used in the context of the Competition only – i.e. images should not be used for promotion of products, political or religious content of any form. Note: Improper use of images or failure to attribute the photographer and/or the Competition as set out above may result in the media outlet being invoiced for use of images at commercial rates.

14.3 Exhibition prints – all prints from all exhibitions will be disposed of on completion of the exhibition periods. Any photographer whose image has been displayed at an exhibition, wishing to claim their print may do so by notifying the Organisers before the exhibition finishes. Photographers must arrange to collect their print in person and/or arrange delivery at their own cost. The organisers will not store any print for any photographer beyond the exhibition dates. Prints will be supplied strictly in “as is” condition, minus any mounts, frames or competition branding. The Competition accepts no responsibility for any damage to prints during dismantling or delivery.

15. By entering this Competition, an entrant is indicating his/her agreement to be bound by these terms and conditions. It is the responsibility of each entrant to ensure that they have read and will abide by the Rules of the Competition.  By submitting an entry, each entrant agrees to the Rules, that their entry complies with the Rules, and that they will be liable to the Owners and their licensees in respect of any damages or losses incurred as a breach of the Rules by the entrant.

16. The Organisers reserve the right not to award prizes and to disqualify and remove any image or photographer from the Competition that it feels may breach the rules, laws and/or bye-laws, offers inducements, offers services, collude with judges, bring the Organisers, other entrants, the Competition, or any of its sponsors into disrepute. Such entries will be deemed as void and any fees paid will not be refunded.

16.1 The Organisers reserve the right to retrospectively disqualify, annul and/or revoke the titles and/or commendations of any entrant that breaches the rules, partakes in unauthorised commercial use of the Competition’s intellectual property, makes threats, offers inducements, offers services, collude with judges, bring the Organisers, other entrants, the Competition, or any of its sponsors into disrepute or any activity that brings the organisers, judges, sponsors or other entrants into disrepute.

16.2 In the event of any entrant’s award, commendation or title being annulled, revoked or disqualified, the Competition reserves the right to seek reimbursement of any/all prizes. In addition, the disqualified entrant must remove all awards and/or titles from their personal endeavours, websites, social media accounts etc. The disqualified entrant may not trade or make any claims to any award that has been revoked and to continue to do so will constitute an infringement of the competition’s intellectual property and copyright, and therefore a breach of UK copyright laws.

17. The Scottish Landscape Photographer of the Year Competition is a conservation based competition, and all entrants are expected to abide by the Scottish Outdoor Access Code when capturing images in the outdoors. The Organisers reserve the right not to award prizes and  disqualify any image(s) that appear to exhibit damage to the landscape, trees, flora & fauna, property, commit trespass and/or violate the terms and conditions of any local bye-laws and/or the Scottish Outdoor Access Code. Such entries will be deemed as void and any fees paid will not be refunded.

18. The Organiser’s decision in respect of all matters to do with the Competition will be final and no correspondence will be entered into for whatever reason.

19. The Competition and these terms and conditions will be governed by Scots law and any disputes will be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Scotland.

20. These Terms and Conditions are subject to change, review and/or update at any time.