The latest competition email I received prompted me to comment on competition terms in general.
If you are like me, you receive a number of emails a month announcing photographic competitions of some sort. The latest one was from a New York travel magazine.
And it looks like an interesting competition until you read the small print, and discover that just by entering the competition you are giving effectively complete ownership of your images to the magazine. Now what really saddens me is that this little detail was hidden in the full conditions rather than mentioned up front on the main competition page.
Any legitimate photo competition is not used to collect images for free. Rather the rights of the photographer is always recognised and that the minimum usage rights are requested consistent with the purpose of the competition.
You need to read the small print.