Rules and Regulations of the Photography Competition under the Fotoportal

Regulations governing the photography competition under the Fotoportal in 2026

§ 1 General Provisions

The organiser of the competition is the City of Poznań, with its registered office in Poznań, 61-841, Pl. Kolegiacki 17, NIP: 2090001440.
Supervision over the proper conduct of the competition shall be exercised by a competition committee appointed by the organiser.
By participating in the competition, a participant agrees to the competition terms set out in these regulations.
Whenever these regulations refer to:
1. 1) regulations – this shall mean the rules and regulations of the photography competition under the Fotoportal in 2026;
2. 2) work – this shall mean a photographic image;
3. 3) committee – this shall mean the competition committee appointed by the organiser to supervise the proper conduct of the competition and to select the winners;
4. 4) competition website – this shall mean the website supporting the competition, i.e. the Fotoportal, available at: www.fotoportal.poznan.pl;
5. 5) organiser – this shall mean the City of Poznań;
6. 6) personal data controller – this shall mean the Mayor of the City of Poznań;
7. 7) participant – this shall mean a person taking part in the competition by submitting a work to the competition;
8. 8) winner – this shall mean a person who has won the competition or received an honourable mention in it.

§ 2 Competition Participants

Any person with full legal capacity who meets all the conditions of participation set out in the regulations may take part in the competition.
Employees of the organiser and members of their immediate family are excluded from participation in the competition.
Immediate family members of the organiser's employees, as referred to in paragraph 2, means their: ancestors, descendants, siblings, spouses, parents of spouses, and persons remaining with those referred to in paragraph 2 in a relationship of adoption, guardianship, or curatorship.

§ 3 Competition Rules

The type and format of the competition is established as a multi-stage, open photography competition.
The competition takes place throughout the entire year (in individual months of the year, in accordance with paragraph 3), subject to the proviso that the selection of winners for the month of December takes place in January of the following year.
Each month a thematic competition is held – the competition theme is announced by the organiser on the competition website at the beginning of the month; works submitted to a given thematic competition must be consistent with its theme.
The competition consists of 2 stages:
1. 1) first stage – consists of submitting works as part of the thematic competition organised in a given month, as referred to in paragraph 3, and selecting the work of the month and the honourable mentions of the month;
2. 2) second stage – consists of selecting, from among the winners of the thematic competitions held throughout the year, the work of the year and two honourable mentions of the year.
The selection of winners for a given month (one work of the month and honourable mentions of the month) shall be made by the committee. The number of honourable mentions awarded in a given month is determined each time by the committee, after reviewing the works submitted to the given thematic competition.
The selection of the work of the year and two honourable mentions of the year shall be made by the committee after the end of the calendar year. The selection shall be made from among the works of the winners of the thematic competitions held throughout the year (including any additional thematic competitions referred to in paragraph 7), meeting the criteria referred to in § 7 paragraph 2.
The organiser envisages the possibility of organising additional thematic competitions during the year, for which prizes will be awarded.
The organiser reserves the right not to select winners in a given competition and not to award prizes therein, in the event of an unsatisfactory level of submitted works.
Information regarding the outcome of the competition shall be made public on the competition website and sent by e-mail to the address of the competition winners, as provided during account registration on the competition website.

§ 4 Image Rights of Third Parties

The participant warrants and guarantees that they have obtained the consent of persons whose image appears in the works submitted to the competition (provided the organiser permits submission of works containing images of persons in a given competition) for the use of their image by the organiser and other entities who may order a work on the competition website, in accordance with the rules set out in the Fotoportal regulations available on the competition website, including its public dissemination, where required by law, in all activities, and in particular for educational, informational, advertising, promotional, and marketing purposes. In the event of any withdrawal of consent to use the image of a person whose image appears in a work submitted to the competition, the participant is obliged to notify the organiser immediately (even if the withdrawal occurs after the end of the competition).
Furthermore, the participant warrants that the works submitted to the competition will not infringe the image rights or personal rights of other persons.
In the event that third parties bring claims against the organiser arising from any infringement of their image rights or personal rights, the participant undertakes to take, at their own expense, all factual and legal steps to provide the organiser with adequate protection against such claims, and in particular undertakes to substitute the organiser or, if this is not possible, to join the proceedings on the side of the organiser in all proceedings brought against the organiser, and to indemnify the organiser against all claims made by third parties. Under this declaration, the participant bears full liability for damages towards the organiser, including in particular direct damage, costs of legal assistance provided to defend the organiser's interests, and the equivalent of benefits granted by the organiser to satisfy the claims of third parties.

§ 5 Prizes

For the winners of the competitions referred to in § 3 paragraph 4, prizes as specified in the appendix to the regulations are envisaged.
Cash prizes shall be paid to the winners after the winner has duly completed the relevant documents sent by the organiser and delivered them (in person or by post/courier) to the organiser within the deadline specified in paragraph 4.
Payment of a cash prize shall be made no later than 21 business days from the date of delivery of the documents referred to in paragraph 2 to the City of Poznań Office – President's Cabinet of the City of Poznań Office, Pl. Kolegiacki 17, 61-841 Poznań.
Failure to complete and deliver the relevant documents to the organiser within 10 business days of receiving them from the organiser shall be deemed equivalent to the winner's forfeiture of the right to receive the cash prize. In the case of sending documents by post or courier, the deadline referred to in the first sentence shall be deemed observed if the parcel was dispatched to the organiser within that deadline.
Honourable mentions of the month in the form of souvenirs from the official line of city merchandise shall be handed to the winner in person, at a time convenient for both the winner and the organiser (the winner and the organiser will agree on a collection date), no later than within 21 business days of the announcement of the competition results, at the seat of the City of Poznań Office – President's Cabinet of the City of Poznań Office, Pl. Kolegiacki 17, 61-841 Poznań.
The organiser shall bear no responsibility for inability to contact the winner due to the winner providing incomplete, outdated, or incorrect personal data.
The competition qualifies as a competition in the field of art within the meaning of Article 21(68) of the Act of 26 July 1991 on personal income tax (accordingly, prizes whose individual value does not exceed PLN 2,000 are exempt from income tax).
The list of prizes is also available on the competition website.

§ 6 Submission of a Work to the Competition

A work is submitted to the competition upon:
1. 1) uploading the work to the competition website in the competition section;
2. 2) providing additional information about the location where the work was created and its nature;
3. 3) clicking the checkbox labelled 'I accept the Service Regulations' and 'Privacy Policy', visible at the bottom of the competition website;
4. 4) clicking the checkbox labelled 'I want my photo to take part in the competition: Competition ……………. (month name) 2026, which is equivalent to accepting the Competition Regulations', visible at the bottom of the competition website;
5. 5) clicking the checkbox labelled 'Add photo', visible at the bottom of the competition website.
Authentic personal data must be provided during registration. This information is necessary to establish, among other things, the copyright to the work submitted to the competition.
Providing inauthentic data will result in the inability to deliver prizes to the winner.
The organiser informs that impersonating another person with the intent to cause them financial or personal harm is subject to criminal liability.
Registration on the competition website is carried out by completing the registration form found on the website, in accordance with the rules set out in the Fotoportal regulations available on the competition website.

§ 7 Requirements for Works, Qualification and Evaluation Criteria, Selection of Winners

Works submitted to the competition must be in JPG format with the largest possible size and print resolution.
The work of the year shall be selected from among the winners who have submitted works that allow printing in a format close to A2, at a print resolution of 300 dpi (i.e. a minimum size of approx. 6000 x 4500 pixels at a print resolution of 300 dpi must be maintained; at a lower print resolution, e.g. 250 dpi, the size of the work must be proportionally larger, at 7800 x 3276 pixels).
No additional markings may be placed on works submitted to the competition.
Works submitted to the competition should be current, i.e. created in the season of the given calendar year corresponding to the theme.
A given work may only be submitted to the competition once.
The title and/or description of the work should contain information about the address of the location in Poznań where the work was created (street name, building number).
The committee selects winners by a majority vote.
In the event of a tie, the deciding vote is cast by the organiser's representative referred to in § 8 paragraph 1 point 1.
When evaluating works submitted to the competition, the committee shall apply the following criteria:
1. 1) whether the work meets the conceptual objectives of the competition, in particular the work's compliance with the competition theme;
2. 2) the currency of the photographs and their uniqueness relative to previous competitions;
3. 3) whether the work meets the technical requirements, i.e. size and resolution;
4. 4) the quality of the aesthetic and artistic values of the work.

§ 8 Competition Committee

The committee consists of:
1. 1) Organiser's representative – the Deputy Director of the President's Cabinet of the City of Poznań Office, or an authorised substitute;
2. 2) Fotoportal administrator – an employee of the President's Cabinet of the City of Poznań Office responsible for promotion coordination;
3. 3) Committee member – (at least one) employee of the President's Cabinet of the City of Poznań Office responsible for promotion coordination.
In the event of an additional thematic competition being organised, as referred to in § 3 paragraph 7, it shall be decided by the committee referred to in paragraph 1.

§ 9 Complaints

Complaints regarding the conduct of the competition should be submitted in writing to: President's Cabinet of the City of Poznań Office, Pl. Kolegiacki 17, 61-841 Poznań, with the note 'Photography Competition', within 10 days of the announcement of the competition results (in the case of complaints sent by post or courier, the date of dispatch shall be decisive). A complaint must include the participant's personal data and a description of the grounds for the complaint.
Complaints that do not meet the requirements set out in paragraph 1 shall not be considered.
Complaints shall be considered by the organiser within 10 days of their receipt. Compliance with the complaint consideration deadline shall be determined by the date on which the organiser dispatches their response (in the case of sending the response by post or courier, the date of dispatch shall be decisive).

§ 10 Copyrights

Upon the participant's submission of a work to the competition, they grant the organiser, free of charge (without remuneration for this purpose), a non-exclusive licence to use the work, without time or territorial limitations, across all fields of exploitation known at the time of submission, and in particular:
1. 1) in the scope of recording and reproducing the work – the right to produce copies of the work by any technique, including printing, reprography, magnetic recording, and digital techniques, introducing the work into computer memory and multimedia networks;
2. 2) in the scope of trading in the original or copies on which the work has been recorded – placing on the market, lending, or renting the original or copies;
3. 3) in the scope of disseminating the work in a manner other than specified in point 2) – public performance, exhibition, display, playback, broadcasting and rebroadcasting, as well as making the work publicly available in such a way that anyone can access it at a place and time of their choice, including dissemination in guides, catalogues, promotional and advertising materials, press announcements and advertisements, on posters including large-format posters, publication on the Internet, as well as making the work available via webcasting, simulcasting, videocasting, and all other forms of internet transmission, and dissemination via telephone networks (fixed or mobile), in particular via: mobile phone (including WAP) and digital devices (e.g. decoders, VOD, PPV, personal computers, and others), dissemination in all other forms of communication, promotion, or advertising (e.g. on merchandise);
4. 4) making them available to other persons for commercial purposes in publications and studies describing the organiser;
5. 5) the right to translate, adapt, make any changes, modifications, corrections, reworkings, format changes, abridgements, and adaptations of the work, including changes to the layout or any other changes to the work, in particular changes to the arrangement and size of individual graphic elements comprising the work, as well as the use of adaptations of the work in the form of reworkings, fragmentation, and/or re-editing, even where the result of such actions would be the loss of the individual character of the work;
6. 6) the right to permanently or temporarily reproduce the work in whole or in part, by any means and in any form;
7. 7) the right to use the work and its modifications and adaptations in all available forms, including in advertising media such as television, radio, press, internet, outdoor advertising, non-media advertising materials (BTL), posters, advertising leaflets, brochures, and other advertising accessories.
From the moment of granting the licence to use the work, the participant permits the organiser to exercise the derivative copyright within the meaning of Article 2 of the Act on Copyright and Related Rights in relation to the work, i.e. consents to making changes and modifications to the work and creating adaptations of the work, using, disposing of, and disseminating the adaptations of the work; furthermore, at the same time, the participant transfers to the organiser the right to authorise the exercise of the derivative copyright. The exercise of the above rights shall take place across the fields of exploitation listed in paragraph 1.
From the moment of granting the licence to use the work, the participant grants the organiser consent and authorisation to exercise the moral rights to the work on behalf of the participant, in particular in the scope of the right to the integrity of the work and the right to supervise the manner of use of the work (the exercise of moral rights will relate primarily to making all adaptations, changes, and modifications to the work referred to in paragraph 1 point 5).
The organiser has the right to grant third parties a sub-licence to use the work.
Both the participant and the organiser may terminate the licence with a 3-month notice period, subject to paragraph 6.
In the event that the image of a person is captured in the work (in the situation referred to in § 4 paragraph 1), the participant reserves the right to immediately terminate the licence if the person whose image is captured in the work withdraws their consent to its use. In such a situation, the participant is obliged to notify the organiser of the above circumstance without delay, and the organiser undertakes to cease using the work in any manner.
By submitting a work to the competition, the participant declares that:
1. 1) they hold all exclusive and unrestricted economic copyright to the work;
2. 2) they may dispose of the economic copyright to the work, including granting a licence to use the work;
3. 3) the economic copyright to the work to which they are entitled is not subject to enforcement proceedings within the meaning of the provisions on enforcement proceedings.
The participant warrants and guarantees that the works submitted to the competition will be original and will in no way infringe the economic copyright or other rights of third parties (including industrial property rights). The organiser shall bear no responsibility for infringement of the aforementioned rights of third parties, in particular in connection with the use of the works. In the event that third parties bring claims against the organiser arising from any infringement of their rights, the participant undertakes to take, at their own expense, all factual and legal steps to provide the organiser with adequate protection against such claims, and in particular undertakes to substitute the organiser or, if this is not possible, to join the proceedings on the side of the organiser in all proceedings brought against the organiser, and to indemnify the organiser against all claims made by third parties. Under this declaration, the participant bears full liability for damages towards the organiser, including in particular direct damage, costs of legal assistance provided to defend the organiser's interests, and the equivalent of benefits granted by the organiser to satisfy the claims of third parties regarding infringement of their rights.

§ 11 Personal Data

In accordance with Article 13(1) and (2) of the General Data Protection Regulation of 27 April 2016:
1. 1) the personal data controller, pursuant to Article 6(1)(e) of Regulation (EU) 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 (hereinafter referred to as GDPR), in connection with the implementation of the budgetary task concept PRD/B/004.4 – Promoting and coordinating the building of the City's image, activity PRD/B/004 – Support, implementation, and coordination of other promotional activities and events (Fotoportal and SKP), will process the following personal data: first name and surname, pseudonym, e-mail address;
2. 2) the personal data controller (of participants and winners), within the meaning of the GDPR, processing data in connection with the conduct of the competition, is the Mayor of the City of Poznań with its registered office at Plac Kolegiacki 17, 61-841 Poznań;
3. 3) a data protection officer has been appointed, who may be contacted by e-mail at: iod@um.poznan.pl or in writing at: Plac Kolegiacki 17, 61-841 Poznań;
4. 4) the personal data (of participants and winners) will be processed for the purpose of organising, conducting, resolving, and settling the competition under the Fotoportal in 2026; for tax purposes (applicable to winners) – where tax obligations arise;
5. 5) after the purpose for which the data were collected has been fulfilled, the data will be processed for archival purposes and stored for the period necessary to comply with the provisions on data archiving applicable to the personal data controller;
6. 6) data subjects have the right to:
  1. a) access their personal data,
  2. b) request rectification of data that is inaccurate,
  3. c) object to the processing of data – on grounds relating to the particular situation of the data subjects,
  4. d) request erasure of data, when:
    1. – the data are no longer necessary for the purposes for which they were collected,
    2. – the data are being processed unlawfully,
    3. – following an objection, where there are no overriding legitimate legal grounds for processing,
  5. e) request restriction of processing, when:
    1. – the data subjects contest the accuracy of the data,
    2. – the processing is unlawful and the data subjects oppose erasure of the data,
    3. – the personal data controller no longer needs the personal data for the purposes of processing, but they are needed by the data subjects for the establishment, exercise, or defence of legal claims,
    4. – the data subjects have objected to the processing of data – pending verification of whether the legitimate grounds of the personal data controller override the basis for such objection;
7. 7) persons whose personal data will be processed have the right to lodge a complaint with the supervisory authority, which is the President of the Personal Data Protection Office;
8. 8) the provision of personal data is voluntary, but is necessary to participate in the competition;
9. 9) personal data will not be processed in a manner based solely on automated decision-making, including profiling;
10. 10) recipients of the data are entities authorised to receive personal data under the provisions of law or agreements concluded with the personal data controller, including entities providing IT services to the personal data controller;
11. 11) the data of participants and winners in the scope of first name and surname will be made public and published on the competition website;
12. 12) the personal data referred to in point 1 will not be disclosed to external entities, except in the cases referred to in point 10 and those provided for by law.

§ 12 Final Provisions

The regulations are available at the organiser's registered office and on the competition website.
The organiser reserves the right to amend the regulations, with the exclusion of changes to the rules for selecting and awarding prizes provided for in § 5.
In matters not regulated by these regulations, the provisions of the Civil Code and the Act on Copyright and Related Rights, as well as other generally applicable laws, shall apply.
All disputes arising from the performance of obligations related to the competition shall be resolved by the common court with local jurisdiction over the organiser's registered office. A participant may initiate court proceedings only after exhausting the complaints procedure referred to in § 9.
The organiser reserves the right to cancel or leave the competition unresolved.
In matters of dispute concerning the interpretation of the regulations, decisions are made by the organiser.
The regulations are in force from 17 March 2026.

Appendix: List of Prizes

Prizes – photo of the year:
1. 1) Main prize – PLN 2,500 gross
2. 2) Two honourable mentions – PLN 1,500 gross each
Prizes – thematic competitions:
1. 1) Prize of the month – PLN 1,000 gross
2. 2) Honourable mention of the month – souvenirs from the official line of city merchandise