Terms and conditions

This document sets out the terms and conditions that govern each monthly wildlife photography competition (the Competition) run by In Pursuit of Critters, a sole trader business based in England. By submitting an entry for a Competition, you agree to be bound by these terms and conditions.

1. APPLICABILITY

(a) The Promoter intends to run a wildlife photography Competition each month.

(b) These terms and conditions apply to all Competitions run by the Promoter on https://www.inpursuitofcritters.com (Website) together with the Competition Details (as defined below).

(c) The month-specific dates, Prize, entry route, entry limits, image specifications, judging criteria and other information on how to enter each Competition shall be set out on the Website and form part of these conditions (Competition Details).

(d) If there is any conflict or inconsistency between these terms and conditions and the Competition Details, these terms and conditions shall prevail, except to the extent that the Competition Details expressly state that a specific provision of these terms and conditions is varied for that Competition.

2. COMPETITION PERIOD

The start and end dates for each Competition (together the Competition Period) shall be set out in the Competition Details.

3. ELIGIBLE ENTRANTS

(a) To enter a Competition, you must:
(i) Create an Account on the Website, if required by the Competition Details; and
(ii) Submit a Valid Entry as set out in clause 4(b).

(b) ‘Eligible Entrant’ means a person who has met the entry requirements in clause 3(a), meets the residence and age requirements in clause 3(c) (including, if under 18, by entering through an adult in accordance with clause 3(c)(ii)) and is not excluded under clause 3(d) (Eligible Entrant).

(c) Subject to clause 3(d), entry is open to any person who:
(i) may reside in any country, provided that entering the Competition is lawful in that country; and
(ii) An entrant aged 18 or over may enter in their own name. An entrant under 18 may enter only through an adult aged 18 or over who has consented to the entry and to these terms and conditions on the entrant’s behalf. The entrant may disclose their age when submitting the entry. The adult must submit or approve the entry, provide their own contact details, and be responsible for all communications with the Promoter and all arrangements relating to any Prize. The Promoter will not communicate directly with an entrant under 18 about the Competition or a Prize.

(d) Entry into a Competition is not open to:
(i) Employees of the Promoter;
(ii) employees of agents or suppliers of the Promoter, who are professionally connected with the Competition or its administration; or
(iii) members of the immediate families or households of (i) and (ii) above.

4. SUBMITTING AN ENTRY

(a) All entry information must be in English and each entry must be received prior to the closing of the relevant Competition Period.

(b) To submit a “Valid Entry”, an entrant who meets the requirements of clauses 3(c) and 3(d) must use the online entry route specified in the Competition Details, upload the photograph in accordance with the stated image specifications, provide all required information and declarations, and comply with any entry limit stated in the Competition Details and these terms and conditions. An entry made through an adult under clause 3(c)(ii) must identify the adult and provide the adult’s contact details.

(c) Once the Eligible Entrant has submitted a Valid Entry in accordance with clause 4(b) the entry will be taken to have been received by the Promoter, subject to verification and the Promoter’s rights under these terms and conditions. Once an entry has been submitted, no changes to the photograph will be permitted, but an entrant may request withdrawal of the entry, using the contact method stated on the Website, at any time before the end of the relevant Competition Period. Any entry fee paid in respect of a withdrawn entry will not be refunded unless stated otherwise in the Competition Details or required by law.

(d) The use of script, macro or any automated system to enter the Competition is prohibited and entries made (or which appear to have been made) using any such system may be treated as void. Any illegible, incomplete or fraudulent entries will be rejected.

(e) We reserve the right to set a maximum number of entries which may be submitted to the Competition (Maximum Participants). Where we set a Maximum Participants limit, this will be stated in the Competition Details. If the number of Valid Entries received by the Promoter reaches the Maximum Participants, any subsequent Valid Entries you submit may be excluded.

(f) Subject to clauses 4(b) and 4(e), Eligible Entrants may submit the number of Valid Entries stated in the Competition Details during the Competition Period.

(g) Each entry must be the Eligible Entrant’s own original photograph. The Eligible Entrant must own the photograph and all intellectual property rights in it and must have obtained all consents, permissions, releases and other rights necessary to submit the photograph and permit its use under these terms and conditions.

(h) The photograph must depict one or more genuinely wild animals living freely in their natural or an otherwise genuinely wild environment. Photographs of captive, domesticated, restrained, trained or staged animals, or photographs presented in a way that materially misrepresents the circumstances in which they were taken, are prohibited.

(i) Ethical baiting may be used only where it is lawful, does not harm or create an unacceptable risk to any animal, person or habitat, and is fully and accurately declared with the entry. The declaration must describe the baiting method and any other material intervention used to obtain the photograph.

(j) An entry must not be unlawful, unsafe, harmful, cruel, deceptive, defamatory, obscene or otherwise inappropriate; infringe any intellectual property, privacy, publicity or other rights; involve trespass or unauthorised access; or have been obtained in a manner that disturbs, endangers or causes avoidable stress to wildlife or damages habitat.

(k) The Eligible Entrant must comply with all applicable wildlife, animal welfare, access, landowner, location, protected-area, drone, health and safety, and photography laws, permits, codes and rules when taking and submitting the photograph.

(l) The photograph must not be generated wholly or partly by artificial intelligence or materially manipulated so as to misrepresent the subject or circumstances. Cropping and reasonable global adjustments to exposure, contrast, colour, sharpness and noise, and removal of sensor dust, are permitted, provided they do not materially alter the content or meaning of the photograph. Adding, removing, moving, replacing or combining subjects or material elements, including by compositing, generative fill or similar techniques, is prohibited. Any other material editing or digital intervention must be fully declared with the entry and may be rejected by the Promoter.

(m) The Eligible Entrant must retain the original image file and relevant metadata and, on request, promptly provide them together with any permissions, releases, permits, declarations and information reasonably required by the Promoter to verify the entry. The Eligible Entrant remains solely responsible for the photograph, the circumstances in which it was taken, the accuracy of all information supplied and any claim arising from the entry.

(n) We reserve the right, acting reasonably, to investigate and verify any entry or entrant and to reject or disqualify any entry or entrant that does not comply with these terms and conditions or the Competition Details, fails verification, contains false or misleading information, compromises the fair operation of the Competition or brings the Promoter or Competition into disrepute. We are not responsible for any entries which are not Valid Entries or which are disqualified, lost, corrupted, incomplete or delayed (including as a result of any errors on the Website of any kind).

5. PAYMENT PROVIDERS

(a) We may use third-party payment providers (Payment Providers) to collect payments on our Website, including but not limited to any entry fees. The processing of payments by the Payment Provider will be, in addition to these terms, subject to the terms, conditions and privacy policies of the Payment Provider, and we are not liable for the security or performance of the Payment Provider. We reserve the right to correct, or to instruct our Payment Provider to correct, any errors or mistakes in collecting your payment.

(b) Our Payment Provider is Stripe and their terms of service shall apply to you. These are available here: https://stripe.com/gb/legal/ssa

6. ACCOUNTS

(a) If required by the Competition Details, you must open an account on our Website (Account) prior to the expiry of the relevant Competition Period to be an Eligible Entrant. If the entrant is under 18, the adult identified under clause 3(c)(ii) must open or manage the Account on the entrant’s behalf using the adult’s contact details.

(b) Only one Account may be opened per Eligible Entrant.

(c) You warrant that any information you give to the Promoter in the course of completing the Account registration process will always be accurate, honest, correct and up to date.

(d) The Promoter may, acting reasonably, suspend or cancel your Account where you fail to comply with these terms and conditions, where the Promoter reasonably suspects fraud or misuse, or where required by law.

7. JUDGING

(a) After the Competition Period, all Valid Entries that have not been rejected or disqualified will be judged against the judging criteria set out in the Competition Details and one Eligible Entrant will be selected as the winner (Winner). The judges may also select two runners-up (Runners-Up) and any number of highly commended entries (Highly Commended Entries). No element of chance will determine the Winner, the Runners-Up or the Highly Commended Entries.

(b) The Winner and any Runners-Up will be notified using the contact details provided with the entry or in the relevant entrant’s Account (Notification). Where the entrant is under 18, the Notification and all subsequent communications and arrangements will be made only with the adult identified under clause 3(c)(ii). The Promoter may also notify the entrant responsible for a Highly Commended Entry through the same contact route.

(c) The Promoter may appoint one or more suitably qualified judges, including an employee of the Promoter, an independent judge or a guest judge, for any Competition. The identity of the judge or judging panel may be stated in the Competition Details.

(d) The judge’s or judging panel’s decision is final, subject to applicable law, and no correspondence or discussion will be entered into. If entries are tied, the judge or judging panel will re-assess the tied entries against the judging criteria and, if they remain tied, select the entry that in its judgment best satisfies the criteria overall.

(e) The Promoter will publish or make available information indicating that a valid award took place, as required by applicable law. The Winner’s surname and county (or equivalent location) may be published on the Website and provided to anyone who contacts the Promoter using the contact method stated on the Website within one month after the end of the Competition Period, unless the Winner objects or requests that the amount of information published or made available be reduced. No name, location or other identifying information relating to an entrant under 18 will be published without the consent of the adult identified under clause 3(c)(ii), and the Promoter will take account of the entrant’s wishes. The Promoter may still provide the information to the Advertising Standards Authority where required.

8. PRIZE

(a) The prize that will be given to the Winner of a Competition is as set out in the Competition Details for that Competition (Prize). If the Winner is under 18, the Prize will be awarded and delivered only through the adult identified under clause 3(c)(ii), who must accept and manage all arrangements relating to the Prize on the Winner’s behalf.

(b) Entrants are responsible for conducting their own due diligence (at their own cost) on the Prize prior to submitting an entry into the Competition.

(c) The Winner may be required to submit valid identification before receiving their Prize. If the Winner is under 18, the adult identified under clause 3(c)(ii) may be required to provide valid identification and evidence of their age, identity, consent and relationship to or authority in respect of the Winner.

(d) Unless otherwise stated in the Competition Details or clause 8(m), the Winner will receive their Prize within two weeks after providing the information reasonably required by the Promoter to deliver it.

(e) All taxes and local government fees (excluding VAT) that may be payable as a consequence of receiving the Prize are the sole responsibility of the Winner.

(f) The Prize is as stated and is non-exchangeable, non-transferable and is not redeemable for cash or credit under any circumstances, except where agreed in writing by the Promoter.

(g) Where a Prize is a cash prize or is redeemable for cash (Cash Prize), the currency, payment method and any payment requirements will be stated in the Competition Details. The Winner is solely responsible for paying any fees and/or taxes in respect of receiving the Cash Prize. If the Promoter is required by law to deduct, withhold or pay any tax in respect of a Cash Prize payable to the Winner, the Winner agrees and authorises the Promoter to do so.

(h) The Promoter does not accept any responsibility and is not liable to pay any compensation if you are unable to take up or do not take up the Prize.

(i) The Winner must follow all safety warnings and instructions for use of the Prize.

(j) The Promoter is not liable for any loss or damage (even if caused by negligence) as a result of any Winner accepting and/or using the Prize, except for any liability which cannot be excluded by law.

(k) Eligible Entrants acknowledge that the Promoter makes no promise or guarantee regarding the suitability of the Prize. If the Winner has an issue or complaint with any organisation associated with the Prize, the Promoter is not responsible for resolving the issue (though they may choose to do so).

(l) In the event that any part of the Prize becomes unavailable for reasons beyond the Promoter’s control, the Promoter may, at its absolute discretion, substitute the Prize (or the relevant part of the Prize) with a prize of equal or greater value.

(m) If the Prize is for real property such as a house or land (House or Land Prize), the Winner will be required to enter into a legally binding contract with the Promoter or such other party supplying the House or Land Prize (Supplier), the terms of which shall be made available upon request and which are not negotiable. If the Winner refuses to accept such terms, they shall forfeit the House or Land Prize and the Promoter reserves the right to pass the House or Land Prize on to an alternate Winner. The date on which the House or Land Prize will be transferred to the Winner shall be as soon as reasonably practicable after the Competition Period has ended, and the Winner acknowledges and agrees that this may be delayed due to the nature of the House or Land Prize.

(n) If the Prize is a vehicle (Vehicle Prize):
(i) the Promoter will, unless otherwise stated, ensure the Vehicle Prize comes with a valid MOT (if required); however, no other registrations or insurances shall be supplied;
(ii) the Winner is solely responsible for all taxes and fees required to legally register and use the Vehicle Prize, including but not limited to any insurance;
(iii) the Promoter has no responsibility for the Vehicle Prize once it has been delivered to the Winner. The Winner is solely responsible for complying with all relevant laws and regulations relating to the Vehicle Prize, its operation and use; and
(iv) the Winner is responsible for ensuring they have the necessary licences, qualifications, knowledge and experience to operate the Vehicle Prize safely and legally.

9. UNCLAIMED PRIZES

(a) The Promoter will use reasonable endeavours to contact the Winner using the contact details provided with the entry or in the Winner’s Account. If the Winner is under 18, the Promoter will contact only the adult identified under clause 3(c)(ii). However, the Promoter will not be liable for a failure to receive a Notification if the relevant contact details were incorrect, security settings caused the Notification to enter a spam, junk or ‘message requests’ folder, or the contact details were not kept up to date.

(b) If the Winner, or the adult identified under clause 3(c)(ii) where the Winner is under 18, fails to comply with the reasonable instructions in a written Notification on claiming the Prize, the Winner’s entry may be disqualified, and they will not be entitled to the applicable Prize.

(c) The Winner must respond to the Notification within seven business days and provide any information reasonably required to deliver the Prize, otherwise they may forfeit the Prize. If the Winner is under 18, the adult identified under clause 3(c)(ii) must respond and provide the information on the Winner’s behalf.

(d) If the Winner has not claimed their Prize within the claim period stated above, the Promoter reserves the right to award the Prize to the next highest-ranked eligible entry or to a reserve winner selected by the judge or judging panel in accordance with the original judging criteria.

10. USE OF ELIGIBLE ENTRANTS’ PERSONAL INFORMATION

(a) Personal information, including Eligible Entrants’ names and email addresses, will be collected and processed for the purpose of conducting the Competition. Where an entrant is under 18, the Promoter may also process the entrant’s disclosed age and the name, age, contact details and consent of the adult identified under clause 3(c)(ii), but will collect only the information reasonably necessary to administer the entry, communicate through that adult and make any Prize arrangements.

(b) Eligible Entrants’ names, email addresses, postal addresses, phone numbers and dates of birth, and any other personal information reasonably required by the Promoter from their Account and/or entry to the Competition, will be collected and stored by the Promoter in accordance with our Privacy Policy, which is published on the Website. The Privacy Policy contains information about how individuals may exercise their data protection rights or make a privacy-related complaint.

(c) The Promoter may publish the surname and county (or equivalent location) of a Winner on the Website or make that information available as described in clause 7(e). If you object or wish to request that the amount of information published or made available be reduced, you must notify us in writing.

(d) The Promoter may disclose Eligible Entrants’ personal data to regulators and to the Promoter’s agents, judges or third-party service providers where reasonably necessary to administer, judge, publicise or comply with legal obligations relating to the Competition (Purpose).

(e) By entering a Competition, Eligible Entrants acknowledge that their personal information will be processed for the Purpose in accordance with the Privacy Policy. The Promoter will send direct marketing only where it has a lawful basis to do so and, where required, has obtained the recipient’s consent.

(f) The Promoter may request the Winner to participate in reasonable publicity, photography and other promotional activity without compensation. The Winner is entitled to decline such a request. If the Winner is under 18, the request must be made through the adult identified under clause 3(c)(ii), and no such activity will take place without that adult’s consent and the Promoter taking account of the Winner’s wishes.

(g) Eligible Entrants may request access to or correction of their personal information using the contact method stated on the Website. Where the request concerns an entrant under 18, the Promoter may verify and respond through the adult identified under clause 3(c)(ii), as appropriate having regard to the entrant’s rights and capacity.

11. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND LICENCE

(a) Eligible Entrants retain ownership of copyright in their photographs. By submitting an entry, each Eligible Entrant grants the Promoter a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free licence to copy, store, reproduce, resize, crop, format, display, publish and communicate the photograph, together with the entrant’s name and submitted caption or information, for the purposes of administering, judging, verifying and publicising the Competition, announcing and promoting its results, maintaining an archive of results, and promoting the Promoter’s current and future photography competitions. This includes displaying and continuing to archive the Winner’s photograph, the photographs of the Runners-Up and any Highly Commended Entries on the Website and on the Promoter’s social-media accounts.

(b) The Promoter may exercise that licence through its judges, professional advisers, contractors, service providers, media partners and Website or social-media platforms, and may make only those technical or editorial adaptations reasonably necessary for those purposes. The Promoter will not use an entry for unrelated merchandise or other unrelated commercial exploitation without the entrant’s separate agreement. Where an entrant is under 18, the Promoter will not publish the entrant’s name or other identifying information with the photograph without the consent of the adult identified under clause 3(c)(ii), and will take account of the entrant’s wishes.

(c) Each Eligible Entrant waives, or where waiver is not legally possible agrees not to assert, moral rights solely to the extent necessary for the uses permitted by this section. The Eligible Entrant is responsible for obtaining equivalent permissions from any other rights holder and will be responsible for claims arising from a breach of the warranties, permissions or obligations relating to their entry. For an entrant under 18, the adult identified under clause 3(c)(ii) gives the consents and permissions in these terms and conditions on the entrant’s behalf and confirms that they have authority to do so.

12. LIABILITY

(a) To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, the Promoter excludes completely all liability to any person for loss or damage of any kind, however arising whether in contract, tort (including negligence), statute, equity, indemnity or otherwise, arising from or relating in any way to the Competition or the Prize. This includes the transmission of any computer virus.

(b) All express or implied representations and warranties are, to the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, excluded.

(c) To the extent that the provisions of any applicable law impose restrictions on the extent to which liability can be excluded or limited under these terms, including, for the avoidance of doubt, the Consumer Rights Act 2015 and the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 (and their equivalents in any other jurisdiction), the exclusions set out in this clause and elsewhere in these terms shall be limited in accordance with such restrictions. However, any exclusions of liability that are not affected by such restrictions shall remain in full force and effect.

(d) Notwithstanding any other provision of these terms, nothing in these terms shall exclude or limit a party’s liability for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, death or personal injury resulting from a party’s negligence, or any other liability which cannot be excluded or limited by law.

13. FORCE MAJEURE

(a) If the Promoter becomes unable, wholly or in part, to carry out an obligation under this agreement (other than an obligation to pay money) due to a Force Majeure Event, the relevant obligation will be suspended during the Force Majeure Event to the extent that it is affected by the Force Majeure Event.

(b) For the purposes of this agreement, a ‘Force Majeure Event’ means any:
(i) act of God, lightning strike, meteor strike, earthquake, storm, flood, landslide, explosion or fire;
(ii) strike or other industrial action outside of the control of the Promoter;
(iii) war, terrorism, sabotage, blockade, revolution, riot, insurrection, civil commotion, epidemic, pandemic; or
(iv) any law, order or action of a government or public authority beyond the reasonable control of the Promoter, to the extent it affects the Promoter’s ability to perform its obligations.

14. GENERAL CONDITIONS

(a) The Promoter accepts no responsibility for late, lost or misdirected entries or other communications.

(b) Should an Eligible Entrant’s contact details change during the Competition Period, it is the Eligible Entrant’s responsibility to notify the Promoter by updating their Account, where applicable, or by using the contact method stated on the Website. For an entrant under 18, that responsibility rests with the adult identified under clause 3(c)(ii), and the Promoter will direct all Competition and Prize communications to that adult. An Eligible Entrant should direct any request to access or modify information provided as part of claiming a Prize to the Promoter.

(c) The Promoter may request reasonable verification of any information provided by an Eligible Entrant for the purposes of administering the Competition or arranging a Prize, including identity, eligibility, ownership and rights in the photograph, original image files and metadata, permissions, declarations and, where relevant, payment or delivery details.

(d) The Promoter reserves the right to disqualify any individual who breaches these terms and conditions, or who is involved in any way in interfering with or tampering with the fair and proper conduct of a Competition. Failure by the Promoter to enforce any of its rights does not constitute a waiver of those rights.

(e) By entering a Competition, Eligible Entrants acknowledge and agree that the Competition may use third-party services such as websites, image-hosting, cloud-storage, email, social-media and prize-delivery services, which may have their own terms and conditions (Third Party Terms). The Promoter will not be liable for damage or loss suffered by Eligible Entrants in connection with Third Party Terms, except to the extent that liability cannot be excluded by law.

(f) Where a Competition is promoted on Facebook or Instagram, it is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Meta Platforms, Inc., Facebook or Instagram. To the fullest extent permitted by law, each entrant releases those entities from claims arising out of the Competition; for an entrant under 18, the adult identified under clause 3(c)(ii) gives that release on the entrant’s behalf. The Competition Details will specify a lawful entry route and will not require entrants to share content on a personal timeline or a friend’s timeline, tag friends to enter, or tag content inaccurately. Entrants must comply with the applicable platform terms, and any information supplied for the Competition is supplied to the Promoter and not to Meta, Facebook or Instagram.

(g) Subject to clause 12(d) and to the maximum extent that it is permitted to do so by law, the Promoter (including its employees and agents) excludes all liability whether arising in tort (including without limitation negligence), contract or otherwise for any loss or damage (including without limitation loss of opportunity or loss of profits) whether direct, indirect, incidental, special or consequential, arising in any way out of the Competition, including, without limitation:
(i) any theft, unauthorised access or third party interference;
(ii) any entry that is late, lost, altered, damaged or misdirected (whether or not after the receipt by the Promoter) due to any reason beyond the reasonable control of the Promoter;
(iii) any variation in market value of the Prize from that stated in the Competition Details;
(iv) any tax implications; and/or
(v) the Prize or any use of the Prize.

(h) Eligible Entrants and Winners of the Competition agree to indemnify the Promoter and its employees and agents (those indemnified) against any reasonably foreseeable loss (including reasonable legal costs) or liability incurred or suffered by any of those indemnified to the extent such loss or liability was caused by the Eligible Entrant’s or winner’s conduct specified below. An entrant under 18 will not be personally liable under this indemnity. The adult identified under clause 3(c)(ii) will be responsible under it only to the extent that the loss or liability was caused by that adult’s own conduct specified below:
(i) breach of any term of these terms and conditions; or
(ii) fraudulent or criminal act or omission.

(i) The Promoter will not be liable for performance delays or non-performance due to causes beyond its reasonable control. If a Competition is not capable of running as planned, the Promoter reserves the right, acting reasonably and subject to applicable law, to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend the Competition or amend these terms and conditions, provided that any amendment shall not materially disadvantage entrants who have already submitted a Valid Entry. Any such change will be notified on the Website.

(j) These terms do not give rise to any rights under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 to enforce any term of this agreement.

(k) These terms and conditions are governed by the laws applying in England and Wales and you submit to the jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales. If you are a consumer, nothing in this clause deprives you of any mandatory protection of the law of, or any right to bring proceedings in, the country in which you habitually reside that cannot lawfully be excluded.