Regulations of the Pan-European Photography Contest for Students „Discover Europe" 2025
§ 1 General Provisions
Związek Stowarzyszeń ESN Polska, located in Warsaw, Al. Reymonta Street 12A, 01-842 Warsaw, entered into the register of associations, other social and professional unions, foundations and independent public health care institutions of the National Court Register of the District Court for the capital city of Warsaw, XII Economic Division under no. KRS: 0000246363, REGON: 140421760, NIP: 521-337-63-70 (hereinafter: “Organiser”) is the Organiser of the Contest (hereinafter “Contest” or “Discover Europe”)
The Terms & Conditions Regulations (hereinafter: Regulations) determines the requirements of the Contest which are to be accepted by the Participant in the moment of joining the Contest.
The proper supervision and conduct of Discover Europe, including submitting of information on this topic and compliance management lies under the Organiser’s responsibility. For the needs of proper conduct of the Contest, the Organiser can appoint the Coordinators (hereinafter: “the Coordinator” or “the Coordinators'') on the local and national level.
The main objectives of the Contest include: promoting integration among Polish and foreign students, especially among Erasmus+ Programme participants, European culture, mobility, exposition of students’ creative output in the fields of photography, and imagination crafts development among students.
The Contest is classified as a Contest in the field of arts, following the Article 21 (1) (68) of the Polish Law of 26 July 1991 on the provisions of the Personal Income Tax Act (Dz.U. z 2024, 226 position).
§ 2 Subject of the Competition
The subject of the Competition is photographic works, hereinafter referred to as "Works" or "Photographs," taken in Europe, created using any technique in three categories:
a. Discover People - Works depicting the diverse identity and image of the citizens of Europe;
b. Discover Nature - Works showcasing the beauty of nature and the landscape of the European continent;
c. Discover Architecture - Works illustrating unique places, buildings, monuments, or interiors in Europe.The participant decides in which competition categories they wish to participate. In total, the participant may submit a maximum of 15 (fifteen) Photographs across all categories, but may only receive an award in one category.
The organizers reserve the right to create additional categories for the Competition.
§ 3 Requirements of Participation
Only participants over the age of 18 with full legal ability are eligible to take part in the Contest who accepted the Regulations and are students in one of the universities participating in Erasmus+ Programme placed in European Union or United Kingdom (hereinafter: “The Participant”)
The Participant declares that:
a. is over the age of 18 with full legal ability and joins the Contest voluntarily;
b. holds full copyright and property rights to the Photograph;
c. is a student in one of the universities participating in Erasmus+ Programme placed in European Union or United Kingdom;
d. agrees on data being processed described in § 9;
e. in the case where a third party appears in the Photograph: has obtained consent from that person (and, in the case of a minor, consent from their parents/legal guardians) for the use of their image;
f. acquainted with the contents of the Regulations and fully accepts it;
g. is obliged to follow the terms and conditions of the Regulations.The participation in the Contest is provided by electronic means described in § 4.
The employees of the Sponsors and their related companies, other employees connected or immediate family members of the Sponsors shall not be eligible to participate. Moreover, the Coordinators and Jury shall not be eligible to participate in Discover Europe.
§ 4 Submission of Contest Works
The submissions must be made electronically via the official Contest website (www.discovereurope.esn.pl) between February 1 and March 31, 2025.
Participants submit their Work or Works through the Google Forms application form (https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfJvYeuiNgRbE_t_0ZL1V5EY6yNfgqJJvjv-9jx36ZCYvWp3g/viewform), available under the “Add Photo | Dodaj zdjęcie” tab on the Contest website.
Works may be created using cameras or other electronic devices. Subtle modifications of the image using editing software such as Adobe Lightroom or Photoshop are allowed. However, photomontage techniques, the use of artificial intelligence for editing, and adding signatures or graphics are strictly prohibited. The Jury may request the original file of the photo to verify the extent of modifications made. Submitted Works must meet the following criteria:
a. photo size: maximum 8MB;
b. color profile: RGB or grayscale;
c. format: JPEG or PNG (at maximum quality);
d. resolution: 300 dpi.A complete submission consists of: the Google Forms application form mentioned in section 2; the Photograph(s); consent for the use of image rights (in accordance with the template provided in Annex 1 to these Rules).
§ 5 Evaluation of Contest's Works
The submitted works are to be reviewed by the Jury. The Jury is appointed by the Organiser.
Among the submitted works, the Jury will choose the winners of the I, II and III (hereinafter: “The Laureates”) places in each category. The Jury can appoint up to 7 additional honorary mentions in each category.
The Jury will make a decision in the subjective intention among the submitted works, taking into consideration the following requirements:
a. topic relevance of the submitted Work;
b. the artistic value of the submitted Work;
d. a unique approach to the topic.The decisions made by the Jury are definitive and legally binding and shall be without appeal.
§ 6 The Results of the Contest
The Laureates of the I, II and III places and all the authors of honorary mentions are to be invited to the Final Gala where the official results’ announcement is going to take place and awards are to be given.
The Final Gala is going to be held in Warsaw (hereinafter: “The Final Gala”). The details on the Final Gala are to be shared with the Participants by sending an e-mail message to registered email addresses until 1st May of 2025.
Furthermore, the information about the Laureates and the honorary mentions are to be made public through publishing works with names and surnames of the authors on websites and social media channels of the Organiser and the Sponsors.
§ 7 The Prizes
The prizes for the winners are awarded and financed by the Sponsors.
Sponsors are selected in each edition of the competition by the Organizer.
The prize pool and the form of the prizes for each edition of the competition are determined by the Organizer in consultation with the Sponsors.
Laureates are not entitled to exchange prizes for cash or any other type of prize. A winner may forgo the prize, but in return, they will not be entitled to a cash equivalent or any other prize.
The awarded prizes will be presented to the Laureates during the Discover Europe Final Gala or electronically, depending on the form of the prizes.
In the event of a winner's absence from the Final Gala, or if the Final Gala is held remotely, the Organizer will contact the winner to determine the method of prize delivery. If there is no response from the winner within 14 days, it will be interpreted as a forfeiture of the prize. The provisions of paragraph 4 above apply accordingly.
The ownership of the prizes transfers directly from the Sponsors to the winners.
The Organizer does not transfer the prizes on their own behalf, but merely acts as an intermediary in handing out the prizes awarded and financed by the Sponsors.
Prizes with a one-time value not exceeding PLN 2,000 in art competitions are exempt from taxation, but the tax exemption does not apply to prizes received in connection with non-agricultural business activity (Article 21, paragraph 1, point 68 of the Personal Income Tax Act of July 26, 1991, Journal of Laws 2024, item 226). Prizes valued above PLN 2,000 are subject to taxation in the form of a flat-rate income tax of 10% of the total prize value. In such cases, in addition to the main material prize, the Organizer will award an additional cash prize amounting to 11.11% of the material prize's value. This additional prize will cover the 10% flat-rate tax on the material prize and the flat-rate tax on the prize itself.
Sponsors are responsible for calculating, collecting, and remitting the tax on the prizes, as well as submitting the appropriate tax declarations.
The winner is obligated to provide the Sponsors with the data necessary to fulfill the above obligations.
A participant can become a winner in only one category and no more than once. However, their works may be distinguished in other categories.
§ 8 The Organiser’s Scope of the Responsibilities
The Organiser shall not assume any legal liability for the accuracy of the data given by the Participants of the Contest, including the lack of possibility to supply the prizes, for reasons directly attributable to the Participant, particularly when the proper address was not provided, the answer was not delivered in time pinpointed by the Organiser or when the given data is inaccurate or not valid.
The Organizer reserves the right to classify a photograph into a different category than the one selected by the Participant if it is determined that the photograph should be submitted to a different thematic category than the one indicated by the Participant. The Organizer will inform the Participant submitting the photograph about the change of category. The change of category by the Organizer does not require the consent of the Participant submitting the photograph.
The Organiser reserves the right to exclude Participants from the Contest whose actions are against the law or the Regulations, in particular, it is applicable to the Participants who:
a. posting content that is inconsistent with applicable laws or the Terms and Conditions, as well as generally accepted moral standards – this particularly applies to content commonly regarded as vulgar or offensive, containing nudity, pornography, erotica, obscenity, insulting the feelings of others, including religious feelings, depicting violence or materials with racist themes (both in text and graphic form);
b. providing false information;
c. interfering with the functioning of the competition;
d. providing fictitious information in the Google Forms on the Discover Europe website to avoid age verification or submit more entries than permitted by the Terms and Conditions;
e. being under 18 years old or not having student status at an educational institution in a European Union member country or in the United Kingdom.The Participant bears full and exclusive responsibility in case of claims of third parties referring to the usage of the photographs by the Organiser.
§ 9 The Processing of Personal Data
ESN Poland Association is the data Administrator registered on www.discovereurope.esn.pl, located in Warsaw, Al. Reymonta Street 12A, 01-842 Warsaw, entered into the register of associations, other social and professional unions, foundations and independent public health care institutions of the National Court Register of the District Court for the capital city of Warsaw, XII Economic Division under no. KRS: 0000246363, with REGON number: 140421760, with NIP number: 5213376370.
Providing personal data is voluntary and necessary in case of joining the Contest by the Participant. In case of personal data’s removal, the User is not eligible to participate in the Contest. For the needs of the Contest, the Organiser processes the following personal data: name, surname, e-mail address, residential address, university.
The personal data of participants are to be processed by the Organiser and the Sponsors for the actions needed in carrying out the Contest, and in particular for the purposes of:
a. communication with Participants;
b. announcement of the results of the Contest;
c. providing the Winners with prizes;
d. promotion of Discover Europe in the future;
e. labelling the published Works with name and surname of the author;
f. the publication of the winning Works, including the name, the surname of the author on websites, social media channels;
g. archiving any documents linked to the carrying out of the Contest;
h. providing statistics.Personal data can be shared with other entities within the framework of the Contest, and in particular with:
a. entities that provide delivery or postal services;
b. supporting entities, including providers of external services that support the activities of the Organiser;
c. The Sponsors.The legal basis for processing data is the Article 6 (1) (b) and (f) of the General Data Protection Regulation of 27th April 2016 GDPR
Any questions and concerns are to be consulted by electronic means to the following email address: gdpr@esn.pl. These data are used exclusively for the implementation of the Regulations or prior to its approval.
Processed data are used for the Contest purposes. In other cases, data are to be processed with the prior approval only, defined in the terms of the Regulations. It applies to data being processed for marketing purposes in particular.
Data are to be processed within the timeframe of the Contest duration, in particular until the end of the Contest.
In view of the deletion or correction of data the following measures are to be respected:
a. the right to data’s clarification - in case of data being incorrect, irrelevant, incomplete, etc.;
b. the right to be forgotten - the right to request removal of the personal data;
c. the right to restriction of processing;
d. the right to access the data;
e. the right to transfer the data;
f. the right to objection;
g. the right to revoke consent to data being processed.In accordance with Regulation (EU) No 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC, the consent may be withdrawn, which means its cancellation or revocation by sending a message from the concerned address at any time to the address gdpr@esn.pl. The revoke of the consent has no influence on the liability of processing data that was made on the basis of consent before its revoke. We inform you that the entries are not profiled. The data are neither to be shared outside the EOG nor international institutions.
§ 10 Copyrights
The Participant hereby declares that they have exclusive and unlimited copyright (personal and property) to the Work. The Participant ensures that the Work is not encumbered by any claims and other rights of third parties. The Participant bears full and exclusive responsibility in case of claims of third parties.
The submission of Works in the Contest is equivalent with granting the consent to the Organiser for the usage of submitted works free of charge for a permanent period of time, on a basis of a non-exclusive licence in printed, audio, video form on the Internet in all the activities of Discover Europe. The Organiser reserves the right to publish entries with the credit titles permanently.
a. The Participant declares that they bear the right to the Work mentioned above and is entitled to give the licence as the rightsholder.
b. In case of photographs with persons’ images, the Participant declares that they bear the right to further sublicense of the use of their image and that the Participant ensures to perform any obligations related to the protection of personal data arising from the above-mentioned regulations.
c. The Participant declares that the use of the photographs by the Organiser shall not infringe the rights of third parties.
d. The licence includes also the right to use the photographs in full or as a compilation of selected modules and related rights, in particular the right enabling the necessary modifications in the photographs (selection, retouch, graphic changes).
e. The Participant grants the Organiser with the free of charge, non-exclusive licence to use the photographs submitted in the Contest for their publications related to the promotion of Discover Europe.
f. The licence is granted indefinitely. The licence is to be granted starting from the submission of the Work in the Contest.
g. The licence entitles the Organiser to the use of the photographs on the following fields: a) the record and multiplication of the photographs wholly or partially: with the means of any printing and reprographic techniques, magnetic recording or digital technology; b) in terms of copies circulation, selling, lending the original or the copies; c) in terms of distribution in a manner other than that specified in item (b): public performance, exhibition, display, publication on websites, reproducing, broadcasting, rebroadcasting, and communication the photographs to the public.
h. In case of claim or demand made by any third party against the Organiser, therefore copyright infringements to the photographs, in accordance with the licence the Participant is obliged to stand up in support of the defendant and indemnify the Organiser claims, liabilities, proceedings and expenses incurred by possible proceedings.The Organiser and the Sponsors reserve the right to present all or chosen Works within the timeframe of the Contest, including the Final Gala and the possibility to their reproduction, and publication by the means of any technique without a remuneration of authors.
The Laureates shall refrain from using personal copyrights mentioned above, in particular the right to provide a name, surname or a nickname, the right to exhibit the Work or the right to author’s supervision.
§ 11 Complaints and Reports of Violations
Any claims related to the breaches in scope and manner of conducting the Contest shall be reported to the Organiser in Polish or English language to the address: de@esn.pl or in written form at the address of the Organiser set out in the convening Regulations not later than 14 days after the end of the Contest.
The claim or report of raised breaches shall contain a name, a surname and full address of the Participant, a preferred way of communication and a detailed description of the situation being the subject of the claim or report.
The claims and reports will be considered within 21 days following the receipt of the claims by the Organiser.
The User shall be notified of the Organiser’s decision by electronic means to the address from which the notification of claim was sent or in written form to the given address.
§ 12 Force Majeure
The Organiser may be released from the liability for non-performance of undue performance under that Regulations as a consequence of circumstances of Force Majeure.
With Force Majeure the parties mean events arising out of or caused by, directly or indirectly, forces beyond its control that cause failure or delay in performance partially or wholly of the obligations of the Regulations. fires, floods; wars, civil or military disturbances, acts of terrorism, epidemics.
§ 13 The Final Provisions
Terms & Conditions Regulation enters in force on the date of publication of this notice.
Matters not regulated by these Regulations shall be governed by the provisions of the Polish Civil Code and the Act on Copyright and Related Rights.
Any disputes between the Organiser/Sponsors and the Participant or third parties that cannot be settled amicably, will be referred to the competent judicial authority proper for the location of the Organiser’s headquarters and the nature of the claim.
The Regulations are accessible for Participants on www.discovereurope.esn.pl and in the Organiser’s headquarters.
The Organiser reserves the right to change the Regulations, cancellation of the Contest partially or wholly without providing reasons.
In the case of conflicting meanings between language versions, the Polish version prevails.
If any provision of these Regulations becomes invalid, null and void, ineffective or becomes recognised as such by the competent administrative authority, or the change of the law, or consequences of the Force Majeure (§ 12), the Organiser will, reasonably and in a good faith, choose the most suitable notification manner mentioned above, in such a way as to fulfill its scope and to lead to the fulfillment of the contractual obligations.
An integral part of the Terms and Conditions is Appendix No. 1 – consent for the use of the image of an adult person.
Attachment No. 1 to the Regulations of Discover Europe 2025
Likeness Consent Form
Place,
Consent for the Use of Image
(full name): …………………………………………………………………………………
I, the undersigned, hereby grant my consent free of charge for my image, captured in photography or recording, to be used in materials by the Organizer for the promotion of the Discover Europe 2025 competition.
The free consent referred to above applies to the repeated (unlimited in quantity, time, and territory) use of my image in all known fields of exploitation under Article 81, paragraph 1 of the Copyright and Related Rights Act of February 4, 1994, and in particular:
a) recording on any audiovisual medium, especially on a computer disk, in a multimedia network (including the Internet),
b) reproduction using any technique, including photosensitive, digital, computer recording techniques, in a multimedia network (including the Internet),
c) uploading to computer memory and multimedia networks,
d) use on websites, including social media sites,
e) distribution via the Internet and other data transmission techniques, using telecommunication, computer, and wireless networks,
f) public sharing in such a way that anyone can access it at a time and place of their choice,
g) placement and use in the Organiser’s own promotional and informational materials, on websites, in press.
The Organizer also has the right to modify materials containing my image without requiring separate consent or payment of any remuneration, as long as it pertains to the same purpose.
At the same time, I declare that:
- in exchange for the use of my image in the above scope, I waive any remuneration,
- I have read the Terms and Conditions of the Discover Europe 2025 competition, particularly the information on data protection in § 9 and the information on copyright in § 10 of the Terms and Conditions,
- I have been informed that I can withdraw my consent at any time by writing to: gdpr@esn.pl.
......................................................................
(date and signature)