Case reference number: to be completed by the relevant department

Reg. no: 15092502097

 

Competition Rules

“The Most Beautiful Christmas Decorations”

Article 1. General Provisions

1. The organizer of the competition is the City of Poznań, with its registered office in Poznań, 61-841, Plac Kolegiacki 17, NIP: 2090001440.

2. Supervision over the proper conduct of the competition shall be exercised by a Competition Jury appointed by the Organizer.

3. By taking part in the competition, each participant accepts the terms and conditions set out in these Rules.

4. For the purposes of these Rules:

1. 1. Rules – shall mean these competition rules titled “The Most Beautiful Christmas Decorations”;

   2. Decoration – shall mean the Christmas decoration submitted by a participant in the competition;

   3. Jury – shall mean the committee appointed by the Organizer to oversee the competition and select the winners;

   4. Organizer – shall mean the City of Poznań;

   5. Personal Data Controller – shall mean the Mayor of the City of Poznań;

   6. Participant – shall mean any entity taking part in the competition by submitting an entry;

   7. Winner – shall mean the entity whose decoration is selected as a winning entry.

Article 2. Objectives of the Competition

1. To create a festive Christmas atmosphere in the city’s public spaces.

2. To strengthen the sense of community among local businesses and institutions.

3. To promote the City of Poznań and enhance its appeal to residents and visitors during the Christmas season.

4. To foster aesthetic awareness and care for the public environment.

Article 3. Participants

1. The competition is open to entrepreneurs and institutions operating within the City of Poznań, including:

   1. private entities;

   2. public institutions;

   3. other business entities and organizations.

2. Participation in the competition is free of charge.

Article 4. Applications

1. To enter the competition, participants must complete the online application form available at: www.betlejempoznanskie.pl/konkurs.

2. The application form must include the following:
   1) participant’s details;
   2) address of the decorated site;
   3) photographs showing the decoration;
   4) information indicating whether the decoration was created independently or commissioned from an external company.

3. The person submitting the entry must be a representative of the business or institution or hold the appropriate authorization to act on its behalf.

4. During registration, authentic personal data must be provided. This information is necessary, among other things, to determine the copyright ownership of the submitted decoration.

5. Providing false information will result in the inability to award prizes to the winner.

6. The deadline for submissions is 5 December 2025.

7. Application submitted after this date will not be considered in the competition.

8. The Organizer reserves the right not to award a prize in a given category if the submitted applications do not meet the competition criteria.

9. Participation in the competition implies that the participant has read and agreed to the processing of personal data in accordance with the GDPR, under the terms specified in § 11.

Article 5. Competition Categories

Winners will be selected in the following categories:

1. Most Beautiful Christmas Window or Display – includes decorations of windows, shopfronts, or other glazed elements of premises visible from the street, which through the arrangement of details and composition of Christmas elements create an attractive, atmospheric “display window” effect;

2. Most Beautiful Christmas Façade – includes larger-scale decorations, i.e. exterior elements of a building’s façade or an entire structure, in particular light installations, garlands, spatial ornaments, and decorated entrances that together form a cohesive and visually appealing festive arrangement;

3. Special Award for Creativity and Originality – granted to participants who have independently created exceptional decorations distinguished by their inventiveness, form, or unique craftsmanship.

Article 6. Evaluation Rules

1. The Jury will evaluate the applications between 6 and 9 December 2025.

2. Composition of the Jury:

1. 1. Head of the Promotion Division, Office of the Mayor of the City of Poznań;

   2. Representative of the Press and New Media Office, Office of the Mayor of the City of Poznań;

   3. Head of the Landscape Resolution and Enforcement Division, Department of Urban Planning and Architecture, City of Poznań;

   4. Representative of the Wielkopolska Agency for Enterprise Development Ltd., based in Poznań;

   5. Representative of Terlan Ltd., based in Poznań.

3. Evaluation criteria (total score: 0–10 points):

1. 1. aesthetic quality and festive atmosphere;

   2. compliance with the city’s landscape resolution;

   3. creativity and originality;

   4. effort and ingenuity;

   5. impact of the decoration on the urban space.

4. The winner in each category shall be the participant who receives the highest total score.

Article 7. Announcement of Results

1. The results of the competition will be announced on 14 December 2025 during the final of the Poznań Ice Festival.

2. The list of winners will be published on the Organizer’s website and social media channels, as well as on the websites of the Wielkopolska Agency for Enterprise Development Ltd. and Terlan Ltd., both based in Poznań.

Article 8. Prizes

1. Winners in all categories will receive the following awards:

   1. a trophy;

   2. a certificate;

   3. a feature article about the winner’s activities, to be published on the websites poznan.pl and https://warp.org.pl;

   4. promotion of the winning decorations on the social media channels of the Organizer, the Wielkopolska Agency for Enterprise Development Ltd., and Terlan Ltd., both based in Poznań;

   5. a dedicated poster displayed on a Citylight billboard, announcing the participant’s victory in the competition.

2. The Organizer shall not be held liable for any inability to contact a winner resulting from the provision of incomplete or incorrect contact details by the winner.

3. The award ceremony will take place on 14 December 2025, during the final of the Poznań Ice Festival.

4. The winner may not transfer the right to the prize to any third party, nor request that the prize be exchanged for a cash equivalent or any other form of compensation.

Article 9. Complaints

1. Any complaints regarding the course of the competition should be submitted in writing to the following address: Office of the Mayor, City of Poznań Plac Kolegiacki 17, 61-841 Poznań with the note: “Competition – The Most Beautiful Christmas Decorations”, within 10 days from the announcement of the competition results (for complaints sent by post or courier, the date of dispatch shall be decisive). A complaint must include the participant’s details and a description of the grounds for the complaint.

2. Complaints that do not meet the requirements set out in paragraph 1 will not be considered.

3. Complaints will be reviewed by the Organizer within 10 days of their receipt. The date on which the Organizer’s response is sent (in the case of postal or courier correspondence) shall determine compliance with the response deadline.

 

Article 10. Licence

 

1. Participants who submit photographs depicting their decorations (hereinafter referred to as the Work), upon making a valid submission to the competition, grant the Organizer a non-exclusive, royalty-free, and perpetual license to use the Work in all fields of exploitation known at the time of submission, in particular:

1. 1. in the field of recording and reproduction of the Work – the right to produce copies of the Work by any means, including printing, reprography, magnetic recording, and digital techniques, as well as to store the Work in computer memory and multimedia networks;

   2. in the field of distribution of the original or copies of the Work – the right to place the original or copies on the market, as well as to lend or lease the original or copies of the Work;

   3. in the field of communication of the Work to the public other than as specified in item 2 – the right to publicly perform, exhibit, display, play, broadcast, and rebroadcast the Work, as well as to make it publicly available in such a way that anyone may access it at a place and time of their choosing. This includes dissemination in guides, catalogues, promotional and advertising materials, press announcements and advertisements, posters (including large-format posters), publication on the Internet, and sharing of the Work via webcasting, simulcasting, videocasting, and all other forms of online transmission. It also includes dissemination through telecommunication networks (both landline and mobile), in particular via mobile phones (including WAP) and digital devices (e.g. set-top boxes, VOD, PPV, personal computers, and others), as well as distribution through any other forms of communication, promotion, or advertising, including promotional gadgets;

   4. the right to make the Work available to third parties for commercial purposes in publications and materials describing the Organizer;

   5. the right to translate, adapt, modify, edit, alter, rework, resize, shorten, or otherwise transform the Work, including changes to its layout or any other elements, in particular the arrangement and scale of individual graphic components comprising the Work. This right also includes the use of derivative works created through modification, fragmentation, or re-editing of the original, even if such alterations result in the loss of the Work’s individual character;

   6. the right to permanently or temporarily reproduce the Work, in whole or in part, by any means and in any form;

   7. the right to use the Work, including its modifications and adaptations, in all available forms, including but not limited to advertising media such as television, radio, press, online, and outdoor advertising, as well as in non-media promotional materials (BTL), posters, leaflets, brochures, and other promotional items.

2. The license referred to in paragraph 1 may be terminated by either party with one year’s notice, effective at the end of a calendar year, provided that such termination may not occur earlier than five years from the date on which the license was granted.

3. From the moment the license to use the Work is granted, the participant authorizes the Organizer to exercise derivative copyright within the meaning of Article 2 of the Polish Copyright and Related Rights Act, i.e. consents to the modification, alteration, and creation of derivative works based on the Work, as well as to the use, disposal, and dissemination of such derivative works. At the same time, the participant transfers to the Organizer the exclusive right to authorize others to exercise derivative copyright in relation to the Work. The exercise of the above rights shall take place within the fields of exploitation specified in paragraph 1.

4. The participant grants the Organizer consent and authorization to exercise, on the participant’s behalf, the participant’s moral rights to the Work, in particular: the right to the integrity of the Work, and the right to supervise the manner in which the Work is used (the exercise of these moral rights shall primarily relate to the creation of derivative works, alterations, and modifications of the photographs constituting the Work, as referred to in paragraph 1, item 5).

5. The participant represents and warrants that the submitted decoration and Work are original and in no way infringe any copyrights, industrial property rights, or other rights of third parties. The Organizer shall not be held liable for any infringement of the aforementioned third-party rights. In the event that any third party raises claims against the Organizer arising from alleged infringements of their rights, the participant undertakes, at their own cost, to take all necessary factual and legal actions to duly protect the Organizer against such claims. In particular, the participant agrees to assume the Organizer’s place in any proceedings, or—if that is not possible—to join the proceedings on the Organizer’s side, and to indemnify and hold the Organizer harmless from any claims made by third parties. Under this declaration, the participant shall bear full liability for damages towards the Organizer, including in particular: direct losses, legal assistance costs incurred to protect the Organizer’s interests, and the value of any payments made by the Organizer to satisfy third-party claims arising from infringements of their rights.

6. The participant declares that the submitted decoration and Work will not infringe the image rights or personal rights of any other persons.

7. In the event that any third party raises claims against the Organizer arising from alleged infringements of their image rights or personal rights, the participant undertakes, at their own expense, to take all necessary factual and legal measures to duly protect the Organizer against such claims. In particular, the participant agrees to assume the Organizer’s position in any proceedings, or—if that is not possible—to join the proceedings on the Organizer’s side, and to indemnify and hold the Organizer harmless from any claims made by third parties. Under this declaration, the participant shall bear full liability for damages towards the Organizer, including in particular: direct losses, legal assistance costs incurred to protect the Organizer’s interests, and the value of any payments made by the Organizer to satisfy third-party claims.

Article 11. Personal Data

 

Pursuant to Article 13(1) and (2) of the General Data Protection Regulation of 27 April 2016 (GDPR):

1. the controller of personal data (of participants and winners), within the meaning of the GDPR, processed in connection with the conduct of the competition, is the Mayor of the City of Poznań, with offices at Plac Kolegiacki 17, 61-841 Poznań;

2. a Data Protection Officer (DPO) has been appointed and can be contacted by email at iod@um.poznan.pl or in writing at Plac Kolegiacki 17, 61-841 Poznań;

3. the personal data of participants and winners will be processed for the purposes of organizing, conducting, resolving, and settling the competition. For winners, data may also be processed for tax purposes, where applicable;

4. once the purpose for which the data were collected has been fulfilled, the data will be processed for archival purposes and retained for the period necessary to comply with the data retention and archiving regulations applicable to the personal data controller;

5. Data subjects have the right to:

1. 1. access their personal data,

   2. request the rectification of any inaccurate data,

      • object to the processing of their data on grounds relating to their particular situation,

      • request the erasure of their data where:

      • the data are no longer necessary for the purposes for which they were collected,

      • the data have been processed unlawfully,

      • an objection has been lodged and there are no overriding legitimate grounds for further processing,

1. 5. request restriction of processing where:

      • the accuracy of the data is contested by the data subject,

      • the processing is unlawful and the data subject opposes the erasure of the data,

      • the personal data are no longer needed by the controller for processing purposes but are required by the data subject for the establishment, exercise, or defence of legal claims,

      • the data subject has objected to processing — pending verification of whether the legitimate grounds of the data controller override those of the data subject;

6. data subjects whose personal data are processed also have the right to lodge a complaint with the supervisory authority, namely the President of the Personal Data Protection Office;

7. providing personal data is voluntary, however, it is necessary to participate in the competition;

8. personal data will not be processed using solely automated decision-making, including profiling;

9. the recipients of the data are entities authorized to receive personal data under applicable law or under agreements concluded with the personal data controller, including entities providing IT services to the controller;

10. the names (or business names) of participants and winners will be made public and published on the competition website;

11. the personal data referred to in point 1 will not be shared with external entities, except in the cases mentioned in point 10 or as otherwise required by law.

Article 12. Final provisions

1. These Rules are available at the Organizer’s registered office and on the website www.betlejempoznanskie.pl/konkurs.

2. The Organizer reserves the right to amend these Rules, except for the provisions concerning the selection and awarding of prizes specified in § 8 of the Rules. The amended Rules shall enter into force upon their publication on the website indicated in paragraph 1.

3. In matters not regulated by these Rules, the provisions of the Civil Code, the Copyright and Related Rights Act, and other applicable provisions of Polish law shall apply.

4. Any disputes arising from the performance of obligations related to the competition shall be settled by a common court having jurisdiction over the Organizer’s registered office. A participant may refer a matter to court only after exhausting the complaint procedure referred to in § 9.

5. The Organizer reserves the right to cancel or leave the competition unresolved.

6. In any disputed matters concerning the interpretation of these Rules, decisions shall be made by the Organizer.