Is Contest A Gambling

[verybusyant]

On my website I plan to organize a contest and pay for the best picture every week. Is this a gambling. Do I need any license to do that or can I do it straight away.
Thank You.

[ChuckFickens]

From a UK point of view...

No it isn't gambling.

Yes you can do it straight away.

From your spelling (organiZe instead of organiSe) then you may be in America, in which case the laws may be different and may even vary from state to state.

[Maydup]

If there is an element of luck in your contest and entrants pay to participate, then yes you need a gambling licence to ensure the it has rules and is operated fairly.

If they do not pay to enter then I doubt there is a problem. They have nothing to lose.

[verybusyant]

Thanks for Your posts. To specify, the contestants will have to pay first to take a part in the contest, send a picture and then the best will win. I am interested in UK law. Sorry but my English is more American than British.

[Buenchico]

Have you ever wondered why TV programmes ask incredibly easy questions (such as "Is scarlet red, blue or green?") on their phone-in competitions? It's because they really want to run a simple lottery (where they just get people to call in and then select one caller at random) but 'games of chance' are covered by gambling laws, whereas 'games of skill' aren't. So they have to ask a general knowledge question in order to (nominally) change a game of chance into one of skill.

If you were to invite photographers to exhibit their photographs (for a fee), with the promise that one photographer would be randomly selected to win a prize (i.e.without any reference to the quality or content of his photograph) you'd be running an illegal lottery. However if you award the prize based upon the quality of the photograph which was submitted you'll be running a competition based upon skill (and thus entirely within the law).

[billywhizz]

Sorry, these guys are talking nonsense. To put pictures on a website, in exchange for payment is not gambling. Nor is it is gambling to award a prize to those people taking part. It's only if they have to pay extra to take part and stand a chance of winning that you will have problems. However, if a lottery is the main purpose of the scheme, it is unlawful.