Custom Domains on Medium!
No, Copyright Violation Caused by Rogue Script
A cautionary tale for publication owners and app/script developers
It seems that several of our recent spate of widespread copyright violations can be traced to a script that was purportedly designed as a workaround to Medium’s discontinued support of custom domains, and appears to have been introduced in April 2020:
In other words, maybe we’re blaming the wrong people — or at least people who did not intend harm. You know what’s paved with good intentions?
The likelihood that the users of this script did not intend to commit copyright violation and do actual harm doesn’t mean they did not commit copyright violation and do actual harm. It does mean (maybe) that we shouldn’t ride them out of town on a rail (just yet).
In fact, it was the owner of one of these sites who figured it out and brought this to my attention directly. They explained what had happened and apologized. I do believe they thought they were just redirecting their own publications and their own stories to their own domain names. Their Medium account is currently suspended, pending further investigation. I’ve asked Medium to consider restoring it.
Users of the script may not even be aware that their use of the script is causing them to violate other Medium writers copyright. After all, it’s advertised as a way to use your own domain for your publication here on Medium. I don’t see where it advertises that it sucks down the entire site to your own domain.
To see what I mean, let’s look at the domain they use in their “How It Works” video: https://blog.letver.com/[@ your medium ID, or a publication name]
Here’s the fake:
If you View source, you can see this snippet of code at the bottom:
Here’s the original:
Understand What Your Scripts Are Doing
If you are using this script, and did not intend to violate others’ copyright, you may want to immediately stop using it. “I didn’t know” is not an excuse; it might keep you out of legal trouble if you act promptly, but it could also get your website investigated, taken offline, blacklisted from search engines, entered into a database of copyright infringers, and leave you with some major technical headaches to deal with. You have to ask yourself, when you find unsanctioned, third-party workarounds for things that a site once offered but no longer supports — “Is this really worth it?”
I’m guessing the answer is probably, “No.”
If you are Express Instant Boom, you’re on everyone’s sh** list, right about now. I’d give you benefit of the doubt, too, but then this isn’t your first rodeo, offering tools to circumvent paying money to other individuals and companies:
