Medium’s Response to My Inquiry on Their New Terms of Service

I don’t think they read the new paragraph before they responded.

I wrote an article this morning, August 18, 2020, that discussed Medium’s new Terms of Service that are scheduled to go into effect on September 1, 2020.

The new term was brought to my attention by an article written by Alison Tennent. It seemed like there were a lot of questions about this language and what it meant to us and our ownership of our work product.

I took it upon myself to analyze the language of the paragraph in question, which is bolded below, to try and understand what Medium was actually saying. I put it in an article, Medium’s New Terms and Conditions Appear to be Taking a Huge Advantage of Its Members, that I thought fairly broke down the language into individual “elements” and tried to discuss what they meant.

I also emailed Medium legal and asked for clarification. Below, in italics, is the complete response they sent me. Part of this response was also left in the “response” section of the previous article.

I must say, they got back to me pretty darn quickly. I wonder if the attention it is getting is making them nervous?

Read the response below, and feel free to comment. I have added further discussion below, after the email response.

Oh, and this was the question I asked them in my email to them: Could you please explain, in a published article on Medium, exactly what this new clause means: “Unless otherwise agreed in writing, by submitting, posting, or displaying content on or through the Services, you grant Medium a nonexclusive, royalty-free, worldwide, fully paid, and sublicensable license to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, create derivative works from, distribute, publicly perform and display your content and any name, username or likeness provided in connection with your content in all media formats and distribution methods now known or later developed without compensation to you.”

It sounds to many of us as if you want to be able to use or change our content that we own in any way you see fit, and not compensate us for it. Is this true?

You should be more open about pirating our material for your own profit or reward. Tell the writers and contributors exactly what this means instead of expecting people with no legal experience to interpret or understand this, please.

Chuck

Medium’s response( I have inserted my comments in parenthesis after several of their comments):

Hello,

Thanks for writing in.

Here are copies to our latest Terms of Service and Privacy Policy: Terms of Service Privacy Policy

These go into effect on September 1st, 2020.

Some of the language has changed, but the fundamental principles of our Terms and Privacy Policy remain the same.(Me: No they’re not. This clause matches nothing I read in the previous version.)

You own all the content you post on Medium, and we make no claims to it, nor will we ever in the future. (Me: Yes, we know. But that wasn’t the question I asked.)

We do not sell your information. Ever. (Me: Again, not what I asked. . .I asked about our “content” “work product”)

The following section does have new language: (Me: No shit! That’s what we are up in arms about!)

Rights and Ownership

You retain your rights to any content you submit, post or display on or through the Services. (Me: Yes, We know we retain our rights. We’re concerned about your ability to use our content any way you want.)

Unless otherwise agreed in writing, by submitting, posting, or displaying content on or through the Services, you grant Medium a nonexclusive, royalty-free, worldwide, fully paid, and sublicensable license to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, create derivative works from, distribute, publicly perform and display your content and any name, username or likeness provided in connection with your content in all media formats and distribution methods now known or later developed without compensation to you. (Me: See below.)

This is consistent with the permissions in our previous version of the Terms. (Me: No it isn’t. Prove it!)

What this means is that you are granting us license to reproduce the content you post on Medium within the surfaces and products served by Medium only. These are the “Medium Services.” This includes our website, our official apps, and any other future product or service that is powered by the Medium network. (Me: “Surfaces and products served by Medium only.” Define all those words, please. You say “includes our website, our official apps{which are what?} and {here’s where we get nervous} any other future product or service that is powered by the Medium network.” Sorry, not clear enough.)

You are NOT granting us permission to use your content outside of the Medium network. Separately, we will never display your content in the Medium network without crediting you. For example, we would make no claim of ownership over your copyright content for development into any other materials such as books, films, or television shows without your permission and participation. (Me: Ah! Here it is. “no claim of ownership over your copyright content for development. . .” Well, then, why didn’t you just say so. Also, why do you need “nonexclusive, royalty-free, worldwide, fully paid, and sublicensable license to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, create derivative works from, distribute, publicly perform and display your content and any name, username or likeness provided in connection with your content in all media formats and distribution methods now known or later developed without compensation to you.”? Because that language says nothing about just Medium platforms. In fact, it says “in all media formats.” It also says “no claim of ownership.” A sublicensable license is not a “claim of ownership.” It is a license to a third party from the content creator to use our content, usually in a specific and one time use. You do not say that.)

Additionally, it does not change or override your ownership and monetization of any content you publish into our Partner Program. (Me: Again, that’s not the problem. The problem is the language you use in your new terms is either ambiguous to your explanation above, or specific to your desire to use our work any way you want in “all media formats.” Make it simple. Rewrite that paragraph to say what you mean.

In short, you still 100% own your content, and you remain in control of it.

You are just granting us permission to display it on Medium. If you don’t agree to that, you are free to remove or delete your content at any time, and you retain complete ownership over it. (Me: Really? To only “display it on Medium?” That’s not what it says. . .shame, shame.)

Additionally, we have moved the language regarding sale of your information from the Terms to our Privacy Policy. But it remains the same:

Medium does not sell your personal information. (Me: Again, not talking about the sale of our personal information. this is called a red herring. Focus on the issue raised by your members.)

Ever. Full stop. We have made a commitment to be an ad-free platform, and as such we will not sell your information.

If you have any further questions, please let us know. (Me: Yes. Can you please change the wording of the terms of use to correctly reflect your explanation here, please?)

Medium Support

Well, Medium Support. I thank you for your quick response, but it still doesn’t put me, and probably many others at ease. Really, if you are telling the truth in your explanation, it is a simple matter to change the language to reflect that. After all, you had no problem saying it in your explanation to me.

By the way, here is the link to the “old” terms and here is the link to the “new” terms. Anybody see the new term paragraph we are disputing in the old terms? It is possible I missed it. Let me know.

I am tagging several people who may have expressed concerns about this issue. Forgive me if I overstep by tagging you. Dr Mehmet Yildiz Kristi Keller Sharon Hurley Hall Riku Arikiri 🕊️ James Finn Danny Cherry Sherry McGuinn Jae Hermann JennyB Yael Wolfe Lisa Hurley Eliot Kersgaard Rasheed Hooda Aric D Mayer Alison Tennent Linda Caroll Marie T Smith Susan Brearley

Chuck Roast tries to write Satire and Humor. Sometimes other stuff, too. But one thing he likes is comments from readers to interact with. Please feel free to leave a comment, Or, if you write your own story, please tag me. I’d love to read them and comment back to you.

PS: If you enjoyed this story, here’s a subtle push towards my newsletter. When you sign up with your email, I’ll send you some original, never before published content, and some links to my Medium stuff as soon as I finish with this medical crap. Thanks to Kristi Keller for the inspiration for the wording of this blurb.