The following competition rules (‘the Rules’) constitute the terms and conditions of the Bird Photographer of the Year competition (‘the Competition’). By submitting an entry to the Competition, you are agreeing to be bound by the following Rules:

The Competition
1. The Competition is owned and operated by Bird Photographer of the Year Limited (company number 06542451).
2. The Competition is comprised of both an adult competition (the ‘Adult Competition’), and a youth competition (the ‘Youth Competition’).
3. The Adult Competition is open to individuals that are aged 18 years or above on the 10th December 2023.
4. The Youth Competition is open to individuals that are aged 17 years or below on the 10th December 2023.
5. All communication in regards to the Competition should be made via email to: info@birdpoty.com
Entry into the Competition
1. Entries must be received by 23:59 BST on the 10th December 2023 (the ‘Closing Date’).
2. Individuals (and their partners and family members) involved in the organisation or running of the Competition, including any Competition Sponsors or Judges (as defined below), are not permitted to enter the Competition.
3. By submitting an entry to the Competition, you agree:
  - not to do or say anything that damages, or may damage, the reputation of Bird Photographer of the Year or the Competition Sponsors;
  - that you have read and understand the Rules;
  - that any entry you submit complies with the Rules; and
  - to accept all liability for any loss or damage caused to, or incurred by, Bird Photographer of the Year and its licensees as a result of your breach of the Rules.
4. Images are not permitted to be entered into the Competition that:
  - have required the use of live bait;
  - feature domesticated animals;
  - feature captive or restrained animals, animal models, and/or any animal being exploited for profit unless for the purposes of reporting on a conservation story;
  - do not adhere to the ethics in Section 4; and
  - were taken before 1st January 2018.
5. Any entry found not to comply with the Rules (at any stage of the Competition, including after the announcement of the winners) may be disqualified from the Competition at the sole discretion of Bird Photographer of the Year. In such a case, no refunds will be made and the decision of Bird Photographer of the Year on all matters relating to the Competition is final and binding on you.
6. If any entrant to the Competition is chosen as a winner but is subsequently disqualified for a breach of the Rules after any prizes have been awarded, the relevant entrant is required to return such prize(s) to Bird Photographer of the Year within 30 days of receiving notice of such disqualification. For the avoidance of doubt, notice under this condition 2.6 will deemed to have been received if sent by any electronic communication, on the next day after transmission.
7. At any stage of the Competition, Bird Photographer of the Year may, acting in its sole discretion, amend the Rules and/or waive a breach of the Rules.
Submitting an Entry to the Competition
1. Entry into the Competition is only accepted via the website at enter.birdpoty.com and not via e-mail, post, or any other means.
2. Entry into the Adult Competition requires entry credits (‘Entry Credits’), which are charged for at a rate of £10 for 1 entry, £15 for 5 entries, £25 for 10 entries, £40 for 20 entries, £50 for 30 entries, or £60 for 50 entries. Entrants may buy further Entry Credits at their own discretion.
3. There is no limit on the number of entries you may submit to the Competition.
4. Entries must be submitted by the Closing Date. Any Entry Credits not used by the Closing Date will not be refunded.
5. Each entry in the Adult Competition may be submitted to one of the following categories:
  - Best Portrait;
  - Birds in the Environment;
  - Bird Behaviour;
  - Birds in Flight;
  - Black and White;
  - Urban Birds;
  - Conservation (Single Image);
  - Comedy Bird Photo;
  - Conservation Award;
  - Portfolio Award; or
  - Video Award.
6. It is your responsibility to ensure that your entry fits the description of the relevant category to which you submit your entry.
7. Entries in the Youth Competition do not require the purchase of Entry Credits.
Ethics and Conduct
1. Without exception, you are expected to adhere to the following code of ethics in this condition 4. Any breach of these ethics will be deemed to be a breach of the Rules and may result in you being disqualified from the Competition.
2. Entries must not deceive the viewer and/or misrepresent the reality of the natural world. Caption information must also be correct, accurate, and true.
3. Entrants must not:
  - injure, distress, or damage an animal for the purposes of photography; and/or
  - intentionally disturb or spook an animal, including by using a drone and/or other aircraft; and/or
  - use tape lures or decoys to attract or elicit a behaviour from an animal.
4. The practice of ‘live baiting’ is strictly prohibited. For the purposes of these Rules, live baiting means providing a live animal as a prey item for the purposes of attracting, or eliciting any other display of behaviour from, another animal. Other means of luring animals, including using bird seed, must be declared in the caption of your entry.
5. Working closely at the nest site of a bird (such as with a wide-angle lens and/or with flash photography) is discouraged, but permitted should the necessary permissions be detailed in the image caption and provided to the Competition on request. What is deemed suitable permission will be determined by Bird Photographer of the Year on a case by case basis.
6. If working with a protected species, the necessary permissions must be detailed in the image caption and provided to the Competition on request. What is deemed suitable permission will be determined by Bird Photographer of the Year on a case by case basis.
7. Bird Photographer of the Year reserves the right to disqualify any entry where it suspects either full disclosure has not been made or where the methods employed by the Entrant are judged to breach the ethical code of conduct shown in Section 4. It is the responsibility of the Entrant to ensure that the relevant permissions have been obtained when photographing on private land.
Image Specifications
1. Entries must be submitted in JPEG (or JPG) format.
2. Entrants that are shortlisted for the final round of judging will be required to provide:
  - raw format files (such as .NEF, .CR2 etc) or, if unavailable, original untouched JPEGs for authentication and forensic purposes. DNG files are not permitted unless this is the native raw output of your camera;
  - full, high resolution files of the final image;
  - an extended caption description; and
  - if required by Bird Photographer of the Year for authentication, a range of images taken before and after the particular image in question.
3. If an entry is unable to be authenticated by Bird Photographer of the Year, or is not of a sufficient quality (to be determined by Bird Photographer of the Year acting in its sole discretion), it will be disqualified from the Competition.
4. Post processing of images is acceptable, provided such processing is not for the purposes of deceiving the viewer and/or misrepresenting nature.
5. With the exception of HDR, stitched panoramas, focus stacking, and in-camera multiple exposures, composited images or AI-generated images are not permitted in any category. Sky swapping or removal of objects through cloning, for example, is not permitted.
6. In the Video Award, entries must be no more than 3 minutes in length and contain only video files that the Entrant owns the sole copyright to.
Judging Process and Prizes
1. Bird Photographer of the Year will appoint the judges of the Competition (the ‘Judges’).
2. The Judges will judge the submissions to the Competition and, in respect of each category, will choose from the submissions:
  - the winners (the ‘Category Winners’); and
  - the highly commended entries (the ‘Highly Commended Entries’).
3. The judges will choose a shortlist of entries from which they wish to see further high resolution files. These must be supplied by the given deadline, or may be disqualified.
4. The overall winner of the Competition (the ‘Overall Winner’) will be chosen by the Judges from the Category Winners.
5. All Category Winners and the Overall Winner will treat any communication received from the Judges and/or Bird Photographer of the Year as confidential. Category Winners and/or the Overall Winner agree(s) not to disclose any communication received from the Judges and/or Bird Photographer of the Year regarding the Competition until such date that an official announcement of the winners has been made by Bird Photographer of the Year.
Publicity
1. All entrants awarded as Category Winners or Highly Commended Entries in the Competition agree that their name and likeness, and relevant submission to the Competition can be used, without any compensation, for the purpose of advertising, promoting, and/or publicising the Competition.
Intellectual Property Rights
1. By entering the Competition, you warrant, represent and hereby agree that any entry you submit:
  - is your original work; and
  - does not infringe on any intellectual property right of any other individual or person.
2. You must be the sole owner of the copyright of all submissions to the Competition.
3. Bird Photographer of the Year does not claim any rights of ownership in any of your submissions to the Competition.
4. You agree that the Bird Photographer of the Year may, but is not required to, make your entry available on its website and any other media, whether now known or invented in the future, in connection with any publicity and/or judging of the Competition.
5. You agree to grant Bird Photographer of the Year a non-exclusive, worldwide, irrevocable licence, for the full period of any intellectual property rights (including all moral rights) in the Competition entry and any accompanying materials, to use, display, publish, transmit, copy, edit, alter, store, re-format and sub-licence the Competition entry and any accompanying materials for any purpose connected with the Competition, including (but not limited to), promoting the Competition within printed and online media, the inclusion within printed and digital versions of the Competition book, the inclusion within printed and digital versions of the Competition calendar and other merchandise, display at exhibitions, use in press, promotional and marketing materials, social media networks and for the promotion of any future photographic competition in both print and online media. All images will be credited to the photographer where used.
Liability
1. Proof of electronic submission to the Competition is not proof of receipt of such submission by Bird Photographer of the Year.
2. Without prejudice to any other terms and conditions of these Rules, insofar as is permitted by law, Bird Photographer of the Year, its agents or distributors will not in any circumstances be responsible or liable to compensate the winner or accept any liability for any loss or damage occurring as a result of taking up the Competition prize. Your statutory rights are not affected.
3. Bird Photographer of the Year is not responsible for any emails or other forms of electronic communication that do not arrive. You must ensure that your email settings and spam filters accept emails from info@birdpoty.com, and all other @birdpoty.com addresses.
4. Bird Photographer of the Year does not accept liability for the misuse of images and/or the failure of any third party to comply with the sub-license granted pursuant to condition 8.5.
5. Any third-party use, as outlined in Section 8, will be required to adhere to the same license granted to Bird Photographer of the Year. Bird Photographer of the Year is not liable for any violations of this license, and such instances are to be settled between the Entrant and the third party without the inclusion of Bird Photographer of the Year in the matter