The Polyphoto S.p.A. / Leica AG X1 ‘24 talenti per 36 fotografie’ Scam

Published 2011 October 1

So let me get this (Scam) straight:

1. You join the competition and advertise Leica on Facebook and Twitter and give Leica AG and Polyphoto S.p.A. full reproduction rights of the images you submit.
2. Should you be one of the ‘lucky’ twenty-four chosen as the best, you get to borrow an X1—you need to give it back—and continue to work for Leica and Polyphoto for free by posting three images a week to the competition site and linking to them from Facebook and Twitter, for 12 weeks, after which, in case you missed it, you need to return the camera.
3. You also will need to create a one-minute long video of you while working with the X1 for Leica AG and Polyphoto S.p.A., for free.
4. All this in return for the chance to be an assistant to a professional photographer (not named), and possibly have your photos exhibited somewhere.

Got all the above from the contest rules and regulations (PDF, Italian).

Fine, many people may see your pictures on their site and you might be ‘discovered’ by the photo world. The least they could do is make it clearer that you are not getting an X1 as a prize, as the whole thing suggests, especially in the Italian press promoting this competition, until you read the small print.