Art. 1. Promoter

Azim Khan Ronnie
64 Rue Claude Debussy,
68260 Kingersheim (Alsace)
France

with the support of

Pixelized.ch Sagl
via P. F. Mola 9
6900 Lugano
Switzerland


Art. 2. Participation requirements

The contest is open to all photographers (professional and non-professional) who have reached the age of 18 on the closing date of the contest, irrespective of sex, nationality or residence.
Employees of the Promoter and of the sponsors, the members of the jury, as well as relatives up to second-degree and partners are not permitted to enter the contest.


Art. 3. Duration of the contest

Details on the timing are indicated on the contest page.
The deadline may be extended. Voting and publication dates are indicative.


Art. 4. Prizes

Total prize money equals 50% of all entry fees and will be shared:
- 30% for the one (1) winner
- 5% for each of the four (4) finalists
An indicative updated value will be shown in the contest information.


Art. 5. Composition of the jury

The members of the jury are decided by the Promoter and are indicated on the contest page.
The jury’s votes are not subject to appeal.


Art. 6. Registration

Registration to the contest occurs exclusively via internet on www.photocontest.ch.
The participants must provide a valid e-mail address and complete the form with their personal details.
The promoter may request a copy of a valid identity document to verify the truthfulness of the given information at any time. The submission of incorrect or untrue data at the registration will result in disqualification from the contest.
The registration will remain valid for future contests on www.photocontest.ch.


Art. 7. Registration fee

The registration fee has to be paid by Credit card (via Stripe) or PayPal.
The registration fee will not be refunded in case of withdrawal or non-admission to the contest.


Art. 8. Participation in the contest

Each registrant may participate with one or more single photograph.
The theme, if any, is indicated on the competition page.
Format of the images to be uploaded on www.photocontest.ch:
- JPEG, RGB a 8bit, saved in high quality (at least 8)
- colour space: Adobe RGB 1998
- 3200 pixel length
- maximal size 5MB
Each file must contain only one image (e.g. diptychs are not allowed).
It is not allowed to enter the author's name, watermark, borders/frames, or other elements on the image.
At the promoter request the registrant shall promptly supply a high-quality file.
Participants arriving at the final stage will be asked to send RAW files (e.g. .NEF, .CR2, .RAF, .ORF, .PEF, etc.), original untouched JPEGs, original slides or negatives, for authentication. DNG files are only allowed if this is the camera's native RAW format.
The promoter reserves the right to ask any participant to provide a set of original files of photographs taken before and after any image that requires further authentication.
Following the confirmation of the entry, the participant may request the removal of the entire series of photographs by contacting the promoter technical team. This operation is the equivalent to a waiver by the participant. In order to submit a new series, the participant must pay the entire registration fee again.
Removal cannot be requested after the closing of the competition.


Art. 9. Admission

The following are some of the criteria for admission and non-admission.
It is permitted
- to participate in several categories with the same project
- cropping (cropping) images, if the cropping does not change the actual photographed situation
- making digital adjustments such as: colour adjustments, greyscale conversion, contrast, burning, dodging, sharpening, noise reduction that do not alter the content
- minor cleaning work: removal of dust on sensor or scratches on slide or negative scans or removal of chromatic aberration
- multiple shots taken at the same location and at the same time (seconds or minutes apart) for panoramas, focus stacking, HDR
It is not permitted:
- deceive the viewer or attempt to disguise and/or misrepresent reality
- endanger or injure persons and/or animals and/or damage habitats in an attempt to take an image
- add, move, turn or mirror, distort or remove elements (people and/or animals and/or objects) from the image
- portraying captive or restrained animals, animal models and/or any other animals exploited for profit, unless it is a specific issue relating to the treatment of animals by third parties
- using live bait to attract animals
- create images or parts thereof by means of AI (artificial intelligence) systems or by means of plug-ins or other software
After confirmation of receipt of the entry fee, the promoter will make a selection of the entries, admitting and publishing only those that comply with the rules.
The promoter reserves the right to reject or exclude entries at its own discretion, even after having already accepted the participation.
Admitted participants will be notified by e-mail automatically.


Art. 10. Selection – preliminary phase (selected)

Each member of the jury will give one mark between 1 (min.) and 5 (max.) to each photograph, which have been accepted.
At the end of the preliminary phase the 40 photographs with the most marks will be selected. In case of a joint runner-up in this phase, the date of confirmation of the registration will be decisive.
Selected participants will be notified automatically by e-mail.


Art. 11. Selection – final phase (finalists)

The jury will assign a second score to the selected works, determining the finalists: the 5 photographs with the highest marks. In case of a joint runner-up in this phase, the date of confirmation of the registration will be decisive.
The finalists will be notified automatically by e-mail.


Art. 12. Selection - winner

After the preliminary and the final phases, the jury will determine the single winner among the finalists.
The winner will be notified automatically by e-mail.


Art. 13. Copyright

The participant declares that he/she is the sole and exclusive owner of the photographs uploaded and that he/she possesses, should it be necessary, the releases due by law from the portrayed subjects, and assumes full responsibility in the event of claims made by the photographed subjects and third parties in general.


Art. 14. Use of images

The photographs will remain the exclusive property of the author, who authorises the promoter to use, reproduce and publish them by any means, free of charge (excluding use for commercial purposes) and without time limits; in particular, but not limited to, on the promoter's websites, social networks, printed matter (flyers, posters, catalogues, books, ...), etc.
Each author undertakes not to claim any financial compensation for any publication of the photographs in books, magazines, newspapers, websites and/or social networks.
Prints of the photographs, if an exhibition is organised and if they are printed at the expense of the promoter, will remain the property of the promoter.


Art. 15. Responsibility

The uploaded contents are solely the responsibility of the authors. The promoter declines any responsibility for the images uploaded by the user and possible infringement of copyright.
In all circumstances, generally, the participating photographers undertake to release and to free the promoter from any claims, request, responsibility and, generally, from any property right or claim by third parties linked to the contents.
The promoter reserves the right not to publish images with pornographic content, violence or racial intolerance; violates privacy and publicity, reputation, honour of others or any applicable law; is vulgar, racially or ethnically offensive, classist or in any way reprehensible; may cause damage in any way to minor children.
Even if already published, the promoter may remove the aforementioned images based on his own and unquestionable judgment without notice and without any claim for repayment.


Art. 16. Service supply

The promoter reserves the right to interrupt or extend the uploading and the voting of the works due to a technical, organisation or legal issue.
In case of an anticipated interruption of the contest, the mentioned jury, according the present guidelines, will evaluate the works of those who have already registered.
No guarantee can be given regarding the continued and complete availability of the website and related application in reason of internet’s own structure which involves many parties.


Art. 17. General Terms

Any legal recourse is excluded. Any controversy regarding the applicability of the present rules and the execution of the contest that cannot be solved amicably shall be brought exclusively before the courts of Lugano with application of the Swiss law.
No correspondence will be held about the contest. The participants acknowledge and accept the present general terms of the contest.