CHANGES

This September First The Party Might Actually Be Over

If you’re the last one out remember to turn off the lights.

As a Texas boy, of course, one of my all-time favorite American football teams was the Dallas Cowboys. I watched them play (and lose) and play (and lose again) since their inception as an expansion team in 1962. Formerly known as the Dallas Steers, then the Dallas Rangers, the newly formed team was finally renamed to the Dallas Cowboys to prevent confusion with the then Dallas Rangers baseball team.

The Dallas Cowboys had several great quarterbacks back in the day, but one stands out for me. Don Meredith, often called Dandy Don. An interesting fact about Don Meredith was that he was recognized in the pro hall of fame, not as a football player but as a commentator.

In typical Don Meredith fashion, “Dandy Don” had one signature trait he’d offer the television viewers each time a game ended badly for the Cowboys. Don would start singing.

“Turn out the lights, the party’s over.”

For a lot of writers here, we may be singing the same song. If you’re not quite sure why then maybe you should take a hard read of this portion of the new Terms Of Service this platform is about to enact September first of this year.

“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.”

So here’s the problem. I honestly believe nobody on this platform’s legal team believed we would actually read the TOS, to begin with. What they forgot is that not only are there a shit ton of writers on this platform, but we are also prolific readers.

Did they not think we were going to read this shit?

Looking back on things, I recall the way writers reacted when the way we received compensation for our work changed. Wow, the hoopla was non-stop for quite a bit. For the poets and humor writers who blasted out a two minute or three-minute piece, the effects of the change were pretty severe.

We lost some outstanding writers when that happened.

A good writer friend of mine reminded me today we’re all playing in someone else’s sandbox, and if the owner of the sandbox wants to change things around, we really don’t have a say in it.

The only two things we can do is learn how to build our sandcastles in the newly arranged sandbox or find another sandbox if inclined to do so.

The TOS above represents a significant change to this sandbox of ours. I don’t speak legalese, but it’s pretty easy to take a rather bleak view of the intent.

…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…

I don’t need to interpret this for most of you, do I? The problem is many writers have already pushed back on these new Terms Of Service. Many of us, myself included, have challenged this “intent” and voiced our concerns.

And each of us received what I believe to be a pat answer — quite possibly derived by the same legal team — which said the platform would NEVER sell our personal information.

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.

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

While some of the language in these policies has changed, Medium’s fundamental beliefs (and behaviors) have not. Here’s the deal:

You own all the content you post on Medium, and we make no claims to it, nor will we ever in the future.

We do not, and will not, sell your information. Ever.

News flash. It’s not our personal information we’re worried about. It’s our content which they reserve the right to:

…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…

Aside from the potential of this platform making money on the backs of all who write here, the problem is transparency folks.

We’re being fed pat answers when we protest these imminent changes, even though the respondents to our questions know full well the TOS is going to be put in play regardless of our protests.

So, what prompted this change? Where’s the transparency to the writing community, which prompted the need for this change? Did the legal team just wake up one day and decide they wanted to freshen up the current TOS and make it spiffy and new?

Uh, how about no?

Most times, an industry shift in direction, especially when additional revenue potential is involved comes from the board level on down. Legal is then engaged to ensure the change or transformation is protected as best as possible with exactly what we’ve been exposed to above.

It’s called indemnification.

It’s a fanciful way of saying they’re providing security against legal liability for the company’s actions. Think of it as they can screw us, we just can’t screw them back.

And because this platform chooses to make these changes without bothering to be transparent, without letting hosts of writers here know how their work is going to be handled moving forward, these same hosts of writers are getting ready to check out.

Since the TOS changes have been announced, I’ve witnessed a minimum of five writers already who have voiced their opinions that this is indeed the last straw for them. Damn good writers, some who’ve just joined, and others who’ve been around for a while.

I believe this departure wave is going to grow into a tsunami.

A tidal wave of writers who will pack their pencils and pads and venture out to find another home for their work. Some may come back, but until this platform changes its TOS and gives back the control over their work, most will never set foot in these hallways again.

As Dandy Don sang, “Turn out the lights the party’s over.”

I daresay this recent change is going to prompt a fairly sizable exodus of writers, and I am sad to say I may be prompted to take my leave as well. Why? Because I think fiction could be the proverbial “honey pot” for outsourcing.

If I interpret the TOS figuratively, it’s entirely feasible this platform could legally submit my works of fiction to “other media forms” such as Netflix or HBO.

Wow, just wow. Maligned and discounted for years on this platform, we fiction writers have been doggedly hammering away at it. And now, well now, if the non-transparent masters at the helm of this ship are seeking additional streams of revenue, marketing our fiction may be just what the doctor ordered.

I myself have written enough serialized fiction here to sustain a mini-series for the better part of five years.

Imagine it.

A five year televised run of my fiction, and what would I get from it? The way the TOS is written and legally interpreted, not a damn thing.

So, I’m not going to jump and run just yet. I still need to understand the intent behind this latest change entirely. But if I have to bail, then I’ll bail. I certainly hope this change isn’t steeped in an ulterior motive we’ll never know until we get blindsided by it, but like the title infers come September first, this party of ours may be over.

All I can say at this point is if you’re the last one out, remember to turn off the lights.

Thank you so much for reading. You didn’t have to, but I’m certainly glad you did.

Let’s keep in touch: [email protected]

© P.G. Barnett, 2020. All Rights Reserved.