Bird Photographer of the Year 2025
Terms and Conditions

1. Organiser of the Contest

The Birdo Nature Conservation Association (registered office: 1136 Budapest, Raoul Wallenberg Street 5, registration number: 01-02-0018000) (hereinafter referred to as the "Organiser") is hosting a photography contest (hereinafter referred to as the "Contest") on an online platform under the following conditions.

The Contest administrator: Birdo Nature Conservation Association.
To ensure smooth administration, the Organiser establishes the following Participation Rules (hereinafter referred to as the "Rules").

2. Participants in the Contest

2.1 Eligibility
Any natural person may participate in the Contest by applying before May 17, 2025, upon invitation by the Organiser and uploading their own contest materials under the designated categories. Submissions must be made through the Organiser's official website: https://bird-o.hu, using a registered account (hereinafter referred to as the "Participant").

For individuals above the age of 14 with limited legal capacity, the prior consent of a legal representative (hereinafter "Representative") is required. A Representative may also act on behalf of an incapacitated person under the age of 14. The term "Participant" shall include both the individual contestant and, if applicable, their Representative.

2.2 Legal Capacity
The Participant acknowledges that the Organiser does not verify the legal capacity of those entering the Contest. The Organiser assumes no liability for damages or disputes arising from a Participant’s lack of legal capacity. The Participant expressly acknowledges and accepts this provision.

2.3 Ineligibility
The following individuals may not participate in the Contest: the Organiser, employees, agents, or contributors of the Organiser, members of the Jury (hereinafter "Jury"), relatives of Jury members, as defined under Section 8:1 (2) of the Civil Code.

3. Application Requirements
 

3.1 Submission Process
Participants (or Representatives for minors) must complete the application process by providing their details (name, email address, telephone number), accepting the required documents (as detailed in Section 3.3), and uploading their photographs. Participants can only apply with their own photos, with a subject that can be matched to the categories indicated by the Organiser. Each Participant may register only once. Multiple registrations will lead to disqualification.

3.2 Submission Deadline
Submissions must be uploaded by May 17, 2025, at 23:59 (CET).

3.3 Application Requirements
Photos can be submitted in .jpeg format by registering and uploading them via the https://bird-o.hu/upoad page. To complete their application, Participants (or their Representatives) must accept:

• The General Terms and Conditions of the Contest, including copyright statements,
• The Privacy Notice of the Contest.

3.4 Categories and Photo Limits

• Adult Category (21+ yrs. old by the application deadline): Up to 3 photos per category, with a maximum of 21 photos in total.
• Youth Category (under 21 yrs. old at the expiry of the application deadline): Maximum of 10 bird photos across any adult category themes.
• Open Category (participants of all ages): Up to 3 photos (only if the original RAW or DNG file is unavailable, but the JPG must be at least 8 MP resolution).
• Conservation Category (participants of all ages): One photo series (3 to 8 images) per participant, with RAW/DNG or high-resolution JPGs (8 MP minimum).

3.5 Photo Requirements

• Images must be taken after January 1, 2019 (except for the Conservation category, where at least one image must be from this date or later).
• Photos shortlisted in previous Birdo contests cannot be resubmitted.
• Photos must adhere to ethical bird photography principles, meaning they must depict a wild bird in its natural habitat without interfering with the bird’s natural behaviour during the photo capture.
• Minimal software corrections are allowed, including adjustments to image quality (brightness, contrast, sharpness, shadows/highlights, colour balance), uniform minimal colour corrections, exposure correction, cropping, HDR and panorama images created from multiple exposures, composite images, and corrections of technical defects and lens imperfections.
• Manipulation of images using photo editing software is prohibited, except in the Creative category.
• Only individual photos are accepted; photo series are permitted only in the Conservation category.
• RAW/DNG files must be available for second-round selections, except for the Open and Conservation categories, where high-resolution JPGs of at least 8 megapixels are allowed.
• All available EXIF data must be included.
• Photos must not be created by interpolating or enlarging a smaller-sized image.
• Images must not contain any advertising, offensive, shocking, or unlawful content.
• Photos must be uploaded in .jpeg
• Maximum file size: 5 MB.

The Organizer will not accept:

• Drone photos,
• Photos created using artificial intelligence.

The title of the photo and the means of taking the photo must be provided by the Participant at the time of upload.
A photo can only be submitted in one category. Once uploaded, photos cannot be modified or replaced after the submission period has ended.

3.6 Participation Fee
Participation in the Contest is free of charge.

3.7 Copyright and Rights Declaration
By participating in the Contest, the Participant declares and assumes responsibility that they are the author of the uploaded photos and have unlimited rights to use them. The Participant further declares that no third parties hold any rights over the uploaded photos that would prevent the Participant from participating in this Contest or using the photos.

4. Contest Evaluation Process
 

4.1 Grounds for Disqualification of an Applicants
Participants will be disqualified for:

Submitting inauthentic or manipulated images
Violating ethical photography principles
Registering multiple accounts
Failing to comply with Contest rules in whole or in part.

4.2 Grounds for Disqualification of a Photo
If a photo has been submitted that does not comply with any rule of the Contest, the Organiser will exclude the photo from the Contest and will delete it.
 

4.3 Subsequent Disqualification and Prize Withdrawal
If the Organiser learns at any time during the Contest that the Rules of Participation were violated (including in particular the accuracy of the information provided during the application, the authenticity of the photo, respect for other copyrights and compliance with ethical bird photography), the Organiser reserves the right to exclude the participant or the photo also subsequently as well as to delete it from the Contest and to withdraw any awarded prize.

4.4 Category Adjustment

If there are not at least 10 photos in one category, the Organiser reserves the right to transfer -if possible- the photos submitted in the relevant category to another category and not to publish results in that category. Participants in the affected category will be notified of this.
 

4.5 Judging Process

The materials submitted to the Contest will be judged by a professional jury.
The photos submitted to the Contest are published on the https://bird-o.hu website. 
The Participant acknowledges that the Organizer will not display the author’s name during the Contest process until the announcement of the results, as the Jury evaluates the submitted photos anonymously, without knowledge of the Participant’s name or personal details. If the Participant requires their name to be displayed during the process, this will be considered a withdrawal of their submission.

Participants who have submitted photos for the second round will receive an email notification instructing them to upload the original file of the contest photo to the registration platform by the specified date and provide the following information:

• A brief introduction of the applicant (maximum 800 characters): How long have they been involved in photography, why did they start taking photos, and why are they interested in birds.
• For the photo series submitted in the Conservation category, a detailed description (maximum 500 characters) of the project presented by the series.

Failure to comply with the deadline specified in the call for entry into the second-round results in a loss of rights. There is no opportunity for correction, and failure to upload will result in the withdrawal of participation from the Contest.
Photos that did not make it to the second round will be deleted from the Organiser's website and its admin interface.

4.6 Contest Results
Time of announcing the results of the Contest: 15 November, 2025
Results will be published on: https://bird-o.hu

5. Prizes

5.1. Category Prizes
•    First Prize: Coupon worth HUF 100,000
•    Second Prize: Coupon worth HUF 70,000
•    Third Prize: Coupon worth HUF 50,000

5.2. Grand Prizes
•    Bird Photographer of the Year: Travel/hide pass
•    Young Bird Photographer of the Year (under 21): Training/travel
•    Birdo Bird Photo of the Year: Training/coupon

5.3. Special prizes
Special prizes offered by sponsors will be announced before the Awards Ceremony.

5.4. Publication Opportunities
Prize winners and submitters of highly rated photos will have the following publication opportunities:
•    showcasing prize-winning and highly rated photos across the country
•    appearance on the Birdo website and social media platforms, presentation of the winners
•    appearance on the Birdo album.
•    media appearance 

The Organiser reserves the right to change the content – but not the value – of the prizes until the end of the deadline for submitting the applications.

6. Prize Collection
 

Winners can collect their prizes and a complimentary Birdo album at the Awards Ceremony in Budapest on November 15, 2025. Absent winners will receive their trophies by mail or courier, and certificates digitally. The Birdo album will be available for pickup or shipped at the winner’s expense.

7. Taxation

The Organiser undertakes to reimburse to the Participant the personal income tax charged on the prizes.

8. Organizer’s Rights and Liabilities

The Organiser states that it is not obligatory to report the Contest to the Gaming Supervision Department of the Tax Authority under the provisions of Act XXXIV of 1991 on gambling.

The Organiser is unilaterally entitled to exclude the Participant from the Contest in all cases where it is proved that the Participant takes part in the Contest in breach of these Rules.

None of the Organiser or the companies participating in organising the Contest shall be liable and exclude all claims for indemnification or compensation for any costs arising from, or related to the Contest, any errors, omissions, malfunctions of the Contest, delays during the Contest; for damage, losses, including liability for damage caused to the Participant intentionally or through gross negligence.

The Organiser shall not be liable for any claims arising from the incorrect provision of data by the Participant or by the Representative (e.g. mistyped data).

Furthermore, the Organiser does not take any responsibility for the prizes received. Apart from delivering the prizes and reimbursing the related taxes, the Organiser does not assume any further liability for the prizes. The Organiser does not undertake any guarantee or warranty with regard to the prizes.

9. Copyright provisions

The use, publication, distribution, modification or transmission of any content related to the Contest is prohibited without the prior and express approval of the Organiser. 
By accepting these Rules of Participation, the Participant consents irrevocably and free of charge that his/her uploaded photographs are used by Birdo Bird Photographer of the Year without limitation in time and geographical scope, as follows:

• in connection with the photo contest, on its own platforms (www.birdo-azevmadarfotosa.hu, www.bird-o.hu, birdphotocontest.eu), on the Facebook, YouTube and Instagram pages of the photo contest as advertising material.
• for the own advertising of Birdo Bird Photographer of the Year, for publications displaying the company (including their reproduction and distribution opportunity), for press releases, in albums, at exhibitions,
• for publication on the internet and in social networking sites (including conversion to the format of each channel),
• for use in other publications and for use of press releases by third parties and
• for presenting the activities of Birdo – Bird Photographer of the Year.
• In connection with publishing the submitted photos, the Organiser indicates the full name of the Participant as author.

The Participant assigns to the Organiser irrevocably, free of charge, without territorial or temporal limitation, exclusively, completely and without restriction, all of his/her financial rights to the photos submitted to the Contest under Act LXXVI of 1999 on copyrights (Copyright Act), in respect of all the forms of use listed therein: for using the photo in its entirety or any identifiable part thereof in any form, including reproduction, publication, communication of the photo to the public, retransmission, distribution, public performance and authorisation for all forms of use. The right of use also means that the Organiser may grant the right to use the photo to third parties free of charge or against a fee.

By attending the Contest, the Participant declares that:

• if the photograph that s/he sends depicts persons, it is solely his/her own photo or the photo of persons who have consented to taking the photo and submitting it to this Contest,
• the photo sent by him/her was taken by the Participant or s/he has the unlimited right to use the photo and to permit this right,
• the photo does not contain trademarks or trade names of third parties, other protected works, copyrighted works,
• the photo does not infringe the copyrights or other legally protected rights and lawful interests of third parties,
• the photo does not feature any other content that is prohibited by law or other regulation.

The Participant acknowledges that s/he is responsible for all personal and copyright infringements caused by taking or publicly displaying the photos that are part of his/her application, including financial liability for such infringements. In the event of an obvious infringement, the Organiser may exclude the Participant from the Contest and may demand compensation for the damage caused.

By accepting the information on participation, the Participant or the Participant's Representative indemnifies the Organiser against all claims of third parties arising from the infringement of privacy rights or copyrights.

10. Reservation of rights

The Organiser reserves the right to amend these Rules, suspend, hold, terminate, prohibit the Contest, cancel or postpone the announcement of results in cases where it is impossible to carry out the Application due to reasons beyond the Organiser's control, especially in cases of force majeure. Force majeure covers all cases that occur after the announcement of the Contest and which are of an extraordinary nature and their occurrence could not have been foreseen by the Organiser or could not have been avoided by any reasonable measures, e.g.: natural disaster, military acts, war, official acts of authorities, epidemic, quarantine or any other epidemiological or public health restriction or measure and any other circumstance that is beyond the control of the Organiser. The Organiser shall assume no liability as a result of modification, suspension, hold, termination, prohibition as well as from the cancellation or postponement of the announcement of results pursuant to this paragraph, and the Organiser excludes all compensation related to any damage and costs arising from the above.

11. Information

Information about the Contest can be found on the https://bird-o.hu website.

12. Data protection

The privacy notice about the prize contest is available here.

Birdo Association
Organiser