Good Enough To Win A Photo Contest

I’m sure many of you like to enter photo contests. Many of these are online contests with very lucrative awards and prizes and perhaps a chance for fame. But do you really know what you’re getting into when you submit your photos to a photo contest? Photo contests have been around for years. Every major magazine does them, many organizations, private companies, etc. Sometimes you can win a ribbon, other times cash or a prize or your photo published. Here is what you can win in a current photo contest for The GAP. You enter cute photos of your kids in hopes of winning: Four Grand Prize Winners will receive: 1.Professional Gap photo shoot starring your child 2.Your child's photo in babyGap and GapKids stores nationwide 3.$1,000 Gap GiftCard redeemable for a babyGap or GapKids wardrobe First of all, you think they’re just going to photograph your kid and give you all the digital negatives? Or pay you? They’re basically using your kid for free promotion. Second, if you actually read their “Terms & Conditions” you’d see (cut & paste): As a condition to your use of the Service, you hereby grant SKYROCKIT a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide, perpetual, transferable, assignable, and sublicenseable (to any number of tiers) license to modify and make derivative works of, reproduce, publicly display, publicly perform, distribute, transmit, and otherwise use your User Content (and any modifications or derivative works thereof) in all contexts, formats and media, in connection with the Service and any other elements of the business of SKYROCKIT and its successor(s). Basically, every single photo that people submit to this photo contest becomes property of the Gap and they can use, sell, distribute and re-sell those photos indefinitely. And then they say: We reserve the right, at our sole discretion, to change, modify or otherwise alter these terms and conditions at any time And you think other photo contests don’t do the same? Why hire models & photographers when all you have to do is give away a small prize and have people send you great photos for free? Photos of people, travel, pets, etc… you’re giving it to them, so they can sell and make money off you. I'm not saying EVERY contest but a lot of them. Read the fine print. Thus, I don’t enter photo contests. Unless it’s print-only, and I know the terms. (then again, I would love to make the cover or inside of Outdoor Photographer, hint hint)