Platform Terms of Use

June 2026

See also:

• Website Terms of Use
• Privacy Policy

1. About these terms

These terms govern your use of the photoclubHub platform (“the Platform”), operated by PHOTOCLUBHUB LIMITED, a company registered in New Zealand (“we”, “us”, “our”).

By creating an account or using the Platform you agree to these terms. If you do not agree, please do not use the Platform.

These terms should be read alongside our Privacy Policy.

2. Who these terms apply to

These terms apply to all users of the Platform, including:

• Photography club administrators and committee members (“Club Administrators”)
• Competition organisers and salon directors (“Competition Organisers”)
• Judges
• Photographers and club members (“Members”)

Where specific terms apply to a particular user type, this is indicated clearly.

3. Accounts

3.1 Registration

To use the Platform you must create an account. You must provide accurate and complete information at registration. You agree to keep your account information up to date.

You must be 18 years of age or older to create an account.

3.2 Account security

You are responsible for keeping your login credentials secure and for all activity that occurs under your account. You must notify us immediately at hello@photoclubhub.com if you become aware of any unauthorised use of your account.

3.3 One account per user

Each user may hold one account on the Platform. Your account gives you access to every club and competition on the Platform for which you are eligible.

Your photoclubHub account is designed to travel with you across every club and competition on the Platform. Competition history, awards, rankings, distinctions, and participation records remain associated with your account throughout your participation on the Platform, and will continue to be associated with the historical competition record after any account closure, subject to Section 11.

You must not create more than one account. Where duplicate accounts are identified, PHOTOCLUBHUB LIMITED reserves the right to merge or close duplicate accounts.

4. Clubs and competitions

4.1 Club Administrators

Club Administrators are responsible for

• Managing their club’s membership and settings on the Platform
• Setting and enforcing their club’s own rules and conditions of entry
• Ensuring their club’s use of the Platform complies with these terms
• Obtaining any necessary consents from their members in connection with the collection and use of member data

Club Administrators acknowledge that they act as independent data controllers in respect of their members’ personal information and are responsible for their own compliance with applicable privacy laws.

4.2 Competition Organisers

Competition Organisers are responsible for:

• Setting up and managing their competitions on the Platform
• Setting entry fees, rules, and conditions of entry
• Appointing and briefing judges
• Publishing results in accordance with their competition rules
• Submitting results to recognition organisations where applicable
• Ensuring their competition’s use of the Platform complies with these terms
• Competition eligibility requirements, competition rules, judging criteria, and award decisions
• Compliance with requirements imposed by FIAP, PSA, APS, or other recognition bodies in connection with their competitions
• Competition Organisers acknowledge that they act as independent data controllers in respect of entrant information and are responsible for their own compliance with applicable privacy laws.

4.3 Judges

Judges are appointed by Competition Organisers. By accepting a judging appointment on the Platform, judges agree to

• Complete their judging duties within the timeframe set by the Competition Organiser
• Maintain confidentiality of judging scores and deliberations where required by the competition rules
• Use entrant information only for the purpose of judging

Judging on the Platform is conducted anonymously – judges cannot see the names of entrants during the judging process. Judge scores are visible to entrants after judging is complete. Judge comments, where provided, are visible to the relevant entrant only. Judges may view other judges’ scores after the judging period has closed.

5. Competition entries

5.1 Eligibility

Eligibility to enter a competition is determined by the Competition Organiser and set out in the competition’s conditions of entry. It is your responsibility to ensure you are eligible before entering.

5.2 Entry fees

Entry fees are set by the Competition Organiser and displayed at the time of entry. Entry fees are processed through the Platform via PayPal in one of two ways:

• Payments may be made directly to the Competition Organiser’s PayPal account; or
• Where a Competition Organiser does not hold a PayPal account, PHOTOCLUBHUB LIMITED may collect entry fees and disburse them to the Competition Organiser on their behalf.

The applicable payment arrangement will be indicated at the time of entry. All prices are displayed in the currency specified at the time of entry.

5.3 Refunds

Refund policy for competition entry fees is determined by the Competition Organiser and set out in the competition’s conditions of entry. Generally, entry fees are non-refundable once a competition has opened.

Refund requests should be directed to the relevant Competition Organiser. PHOTOCLUBHUB LIMITED is not responsible for refund decisions made by Competition Organisers.

5.4 Competition results

Competition results are determined by the appointed judges in accordance with the competition rules. PHOTOCLUBHUB LIMITED does not influence, moderate, or take responsibility for judging decisions.

Judging decisions are final and are not subject to correction requests under privacy legislation. A request to correct competition results on the basis that a score or award is wrong is a competition dispute and should be directed to the Competition Organiser in accordance with the competition rules.

By entering a competition, you acknowledge and agree that:

• Competition results will be published and will include your name, club affiliation, image title, uploaded image, and awards
• Competition organisers may choose to withhold scores from published results – all other fields are published for every competition
• Published results form part of the historical competition record retained indefinitely to preserve the integrity and historical accuracy of competition records
• Your competition record, including uploaded images, will be retained following account deletion, with your personal identifiers anonymised

By submitting a competition entry, you confirm that you have read and agree to these terms regarding the retention and publication of competition records.

6. Images and intellectual property

6.1 Ownership

You retain full copyright ownership of all images you upload to the Platform.

6.2 Licence to photoclubHub

By uploading an image to the Platform, you grant PHOTOCLUBHUB LIMITED a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free licence to store, reproduce, resize, optimise, display, transmit, cache, back up, and otherwise process that image as reasonably necessary to operate, secure, maintain, and improve the Platform.

6.3 Licence to clubs and competitions

By entering an image into a competition or club activity, you grant the relevant Competition Organiser or Club Administrator a non-exclusive licence to display your image in connection with that competition or club activity, including in results catalogues, online galleries, and award materials. This licence does not extend to commercial use or monetary gain.

6.4 Historical records and image removal

Uploaded images are retained as part of the historical competition record retained indefinitely to preserve the integrity and historical accuracy of competition records. Where an image is removed from the Platform for legal reasons, the associated competition record – including name, score, award, and distinction – may be retained with the image removed. Competition records will not be affected by image removal unless removal is required by a court order or regulatory requirement.

6.5 Image metadata (EXIF data)

Images uploaded to the Platform may contain embedded metadata including technical and location information.

6.6 Platform intellectual property

The names photoclubHub and PHOTOCLUBHUB LIMITED, together with associated logos, branding, and identifying marks, are the intellectual property of PHOTOCLUBHUB LIMITED unless otherwise stated.

6.7 Prohibited content

You must not upload images or content that:

• You do not own or have the legal right to use
• Is offensive, defamatory, obscene, or otherwise unlawful
• Infringes the intellectual property rights of any third party
• Depicts violence, abuse, or exploitation of any person

7. Subscription fees and billing

7.1 Club subscriptions

Club subscriptions are charged on an annual basis at the rates set out on our pricing page. Subscription fees are payable in advance.

A free trial period applies as described at sign-up. At the end of the free trial period, a subscription fee will apply if you choose to continue using the Platform.

7.2 Founding member discount

Clubs signing up during our founding member period receive a 20% discount on their first year’s subscription. Standard rates apply from the second year onwards.

7.3 Commission

PHOTOCLUBHUB LIMITED charges a commission on entry fee revenue collected through the Platform for competitions. Commission rates and minimum fees are as set out on our pricing page.

7.4 Payment processing

Payments are processed through PayPal or such other payment processors as we may introduce from time to time. We store payment reference data including transaction IDs, amounts, dates, status, currency, fees, and PayPal email addresses of payer and receiver for financial record-keeping purposes. We do not store full payment card details.

7.5 GST

All prices are exclusive of New Zealand GST (15%) where applicable.

7.6 Non-payment

Failure to pay subscription or commission fees when due may result in suspension or termination of your account in accordance with Section 10.

8. Platform availability and changes

We do not guarantee that the Platform will be available at all times or free from errors. We will endeavour to give reasonable notice of planned maintenance.

We reserve the right to modify, update, or discontinue any feature or part of the Platform at any time. Where changes are material, we will give reasonable notice to affected users by email.

9. Acceptable use

You agree not to use the Platform to:

• Upload or share offensive, defamatory, obscene, or unlawful content
• Misuse or misappropriate other users’ personal information
• Engage in fraudulent activity of any kind
• Attempt to gain unauthorised access to any part of the Platform or its underlying systems
• Interfere with or disrupt the Platform or its servers
• Use automated tools, bots, or scripts to scrape or harvest data from the Platform without our prior written permission
• Attempt credential stuffing, vulnerability scanning, penetration testing, or other unauthorised security testing of the Platform without prior written consent
• Impersonate any person or organisation

10. Suspension and termination

10.1 Termination by you

You may close your account at any time by contacting us at hello@photoclubhub.com. Please refer to Section 11 for information about what happens to your data on account closure.

10.2 Termination by us

PHOTOCLUBHUB LIMITED reserves the right to suspend or terminate your account if you:

• Fail to pay subscription or commission fees when due
• Provide false or misleading information at registration
• Engage in fraudulent activity
• Misuse other users’ personal information
• Upload prohibited content as described in Section 6.7
• Repeatedly or seriously breach these terms

We will give reasonable notice before terminating an account except where immediate action is necessary to protect the Platform or other users.

10.3 Effect of termination

On termination of your account:

• Your access to the Platform will cease
• Your personal data will be handled in accordance with our Privacy Policy and Section 11 of these terms
• Competition results, rankings, awards, distinctions, and uploaded images will be retained as part of the historical competition record retained indefinitely to preserve the integrity and historical accuracy of competition records, regardless of the reason for termination
• Your personal identifiers will be anonymised across your competition records
• Any outstanding fees remain payable

11. Data on account closure

On closure of your account, your personal identifiers – including your name, email address, and other directly identifying information – will be anonymised across your competition records. The following information will be retained:

• Competition results, rankings, awards, distinctions, and uploaded images, retained as part of the historical competition record retained indefinitely to preserve the integrity and historical accuracy of competition records
• Payment reference data, retained for 7 years in accordance with NZ financial record-keeping requirements

Historical competition records

photoclubHub is designed to provide photographers with a continuous record of their participation in clubs and competitions across the Platform. To preserve the integrity, accuracy, and historical value of competition records, PHOTOCLUBHUB LIMITED will retain competition participation records, results, rankings, awards, distinctions, uploaded images, image titles, and related competition history after a user account is closed or deleted. This retention is necessary to preserve the historical record of competitions conducted on the Platform.

12. Disputes between users

PHOTOCLUBHUB LIMITED is a platform provider. We are not a party to any dispute between users, including disputes relating to:

• Judging decisions or competition results
• Club membership matters
• Entry eligibility
• Refund requests
• Compliance with FIAP, PSA, APS, or other recognition body requirements

All such disputes are to be resolved directly between the relevant parties in accordance with the applicable club or competition rules.

13. Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent permitted by New Zealand law, PHOTOCLUBHUB LIMITED is not liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, or consequential loss or damage arising from:

• Your use of, or inability to use, the Platform
• Any judging decision or competition result
• Any dispute between users
• Loss or corruption of data
• Unauthorised access to your account

14. Indemnity

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless PHOTOCLUBHUB LIMITED and its officers, directors, employees, and agents from any claims, damages, losses, or expenses (including legal fees) arising from:

• Your breach of these terms
• Your use of the Platform
• Any content you upload to the Platform
• Any claim that your uploaded images infringe the intellectual property rights of a third party

15. Governing law

These terms are governed by the laws of New Zealand. Any disputes arising from your use of the Platform will be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the New Zealand courts.

16. Changes to these terms

We may update these terms from time to time. Where changes are material, we will notify registered users by email at least 14 days before the changes take effect. Continued use of the Platform after that date constitutes acceptance of the updated terms.

If you do not accept the updated terms, you may close your account before the changes take effect.

17. Contact

If you have any questions about these terms, please contact us:

Email: hello@photoclubhub.com

Post: PHOTOCLUBHUB LIMITED, 12 Madison Place, Forrest Hill, Auckland, NEW ZEALAND

Online: www.photoclubhub.com/contact/

These terms are governed by the laws of New Zealand.