Granting Rights in Favour of UNICEF

By uploading his/her photographs, the participant grants the German Committee for UNICEF e.V. and the UNICEF Foundation (hereinafter: “UNICEF Germany”) the temporally and spatially unlimited, non-exclusive, royalty-free rights of use to reproduce, advertise, store and archive the photos submitted by him/her exclusively for purposes related to the “UNICEF Photo of the Year” competition as well as for reporting on the competition and its application; to make the work awarded by the jury publicly available on the UNICEF Germany website; to use a single image for the purpose of public relations in print, online media and TV; to publish and integrate it on UNICEF’s own social media channels (e.g., Facebook, X, Instagram, etc.); to exhibit the results of the competition in the context of exhibitions and other events; to present them publicly. UNICEF Germany is entitled to grant sublicenses for the abovementioned uses. This includes the right a) to edit the respective photo for the above-mentioned purposes, insofar as this is necessary to fulfil the purpose (without distorting the essence of the photo), and b) to pass on the image data to commissioned third parties (agencies, printers, organizer of exhibitions, etc.). Any use beyond this, such as in books, calendars, etc., requires a separate agreement.

Furthermore, UNICEF Germany is entitled to reproduce the photos in exhibition catalogues, posters, flyers and other publications exclusively accompanying the competition. Each submitted photo will be provided with a copyright designation by the organizer.

With his/her online registration, the participant assures that

a. he/she is the sole author of the submitted works,

b. he/she may freely dispose of the respective photo and the existing rights of use and exploitation,

c. the photo is free of third-party rights, and

d. the photos have not been changed in terms of content after they were taken. In particular, the removal or addition of image content is not permitted.

In the event of any legal disputes in this context, the participant shall indemnify UNICEF Germany against all third-party claims. In addition, the participant assures that he/she has the necessary consent with regard to the personal rights of the persons depicted. The same applies with regard to data protection declarations of consent of the persons depicted.

The organizer assumes no liability in the event of premature termination of the competition (for example, for technical or legal reasons). The competition is governed by German law.

Conditions of Participation

Only one reportage, essay or series with a photojournalistic character may be submitted. All photographs must have been taken with a camera (lens-based). Images generated or modified using artificial intelligence (AI) or other tools may not be submitted. Furthermore, image elements may not be removed or added in post-production. Submitted images must have a minimum long edge of 3,000 pixels. The organiser reserves the right to request RAW files from the photographer if deemed necessary.

The photographs must have been taken or completed during the year 2025 or 2026. The work must comprise at least 10 and a maximum of 15 photos. For long-term projects, at least 25 per cent of the images must have been taken during the current year. The work may have already been submitted or published elsewhere or won an award.

Photographic works commissioned by clients such as photo agencies, NGOs or similar organisations must be clearly credited with their names. File names may not reveal any information about the submitter. The metadata for each image must include captions and details of the location and date taken.

The organiser reserves the right to exclude nominated photographers from the competition in the event of a breach of these Conditions of Participation. Submissions will be accepted from September 1 (12:00 CET) to October 15, 2026 (23:59 CET).

Data protection notice

By uploading/submitting the photographs, participants agree that their personal data collected as part of the competition (first name, surname, contact details, place/country of origin) may be processed, used and stored by UNICEF Germany as data controller on the legal basis of Art. 6 para. 1, sentence 1 lit. a) and lit. b) GDPR for the purposes of advertising, implementing and handling the competition as well as for accompanying reporting and PR work and may be passed on to involved third parties (such as magazine editors, agencies, printers, exhibition organisers). The data will be deleted once the purposes have been achieved. This does not apply to the personal data of the award winners, which will be stored permanently to protect author's moral rights and to fulfil documentation and PR purposes. Participants can revoke their declaration of consent to UNICEF Germany at any time by sending an e-mail to datenschutz@unicef.de. This also ends their participation in the competition. In accordance with the GDPR, the participants have the right to information (Art. 15 GDPR), the right to rectification (Art. 16 GDPR), the right to erasure (Art. 17 GDPR), the right to restriction of processing (Art. 18 GDPR), the right to data portability (Art. 20 GDPR) as well as the right to object (Art. 21 GDPR).