Effective as of August 11, 2021.

These terms (the “Partner Program Terms”) govern A Medium Corporation’s (“Medium”) partner program (“Partner Program”). If you apply, meet the eligibility criteria, and are accepted into Medium’s Partner Program, you can put a story from your user account behind Medium’s paywall (“locking” a story) and receive revenue based on its performance among Medium members. Additionally, you can receive additional revenue if a Medium user signs up for a paid membership from your unique referral landing page or if the user signs up for a paid Medium membership from the offer page displayed immediately after subscribing to your emails.

By participating in the Partner Program, you agree to these Partner Program Terms, as well as Medium’s Terms of Service, Privacy Policy, Rules, and all other terms and conditions that apply to the Medium website, mobile applications, and any other Medium service or product (collectively, the “Terms”). Please read the Partner Program Terms carefully. If you don’t understand them, or don’t accept any part of them, then you can’t participate in the Partner Program. Your acceptance of Medium’s Partner Program Terms forms a binding agreement between you and Medium and shows your intent to be bound by them.

Eligibility & Application

To participate in the Partner Program, you must meet the Eligibility Requirements, apply, and be accepted into the Partner Program. Medium reserves the right to admit writers to the Partner Program at Medium’s sole discretion. Eligibility requirements are subject to change.

Existing Partner Program Participants: If you are a participant in the Partner Program as of August 10, 2021, you will remain in the program. However, to continue to participate in the Partner Program, you’ll need to meet the Eligibility Requirements by December 31, 2021. Medium will use reasonable efforts to contact you before removing you from the Partner Program if you no longer meet the Eligibility Requirements. If you are removed from the Partner Program, your locked stories will be removed from behind the paywall, and you will stop earning on referred members.

Ongoing Eligibility for all Partner Program participants: To remain in the Partner Program, you must continue to meet the Eligibility Requirements and actively participate in the Partner Program. For example, if you do not publish within a six (6) month period, we may disable your ability to receive any revenue under the Partner Program. Before disabling your ability to earn under the Partner Program, we will notify you. In the event that we disable your ability to receive any revenue under the Partner Program and we subsequently determine that you meet the requirements to remain in the Partner Program, we may re-enable your ability to receive revenue under the Partner Program without requiring a reapplication from you for the Partner Program.

Earning on Locked Stories

User Stories
For each locked story associated with your account, you have the opportunity to receive revenue based on various performance factors, including reader engagement. Based on the performance of a story, Medium will pay you a portion of revenues received by Medium from membership fees, as determined by Medium. Medium will send you payment for any revenues accrued as described in the Payment section below. Medium reserves the right to adjust at any time the factors by which story performance and revenue are determined.

User Stories & Medium Publications
A locked story may be included in a Medium publication. The writer chooses whether to lock a story and will receive the same amount of funds through the Partner Program regardless of whether the story is included in a publication. A publication will not receive any funds from the Partnership Program based on the performance of a locked story in that publication. As with any story, either the writer or the publication owner or editors may choose to remove a locked story from a publication at any time.

The above arrangement may be modified on a case-by-case basis, such as for publications operating on Medium that commission or own their content. For any such publication planning to receive proceeds from a story’s performance, this arrangement must be made clear to any writer potentially affected and agreed upon in advance with a given story’s writer.

Referral Program

As a participant in the Partner Program, you will be eligible to receive monthly referral fees (“Referral Fees”) from readers who become paid members (“Members”) as part of Medium’s Referral Program (the “Referral Program”).

How It Works. Every Partner Program participant has a personalized referral landing page (“Referral Page”). If a reader becomes a paid Medium Member through your Referral Page, then you will receive a portion of that Member’s fee, less payment processing fees, for as long as that reader is a Member (“Referral Earnings”). For Members paying fees monthly, you will accrue Referral Earnings each month. For Members paying an annual fee, your Referral Earnings will be spread out over the course of that year. Additionally, when a non-paying reader subscribes to your emails, they will be presented with the option to convert to being a paid Member; if that reader becomes a Member through that page, you will then receive Referral Earnings from their fees. Referral Fees may change at the discretion of Medium. The current amounts of the Referral Fees are available here.

When sharing your Referral Page link with potential new Members, you must comply with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising and related FTC materials as updated by the FTC from time to time (the “FTC Guides”). You must disclose that you are a partner in Medium’s Partner Program and that you will receive compensation if the recipient subscribes to Medium using your Referral Page. You agree not to 1) engage in fraudulent behaviors or spam to obtain referrals or 2) violate any third-party terms or policies to obtain referrals. Such behaviors may result in the disqualification from the Partner Program.

Necessary Rights

You may only lock a story (i.e. place it behind Medium’s paywall) if you have sufficient rights to make commercial use of the content in it, including text, video, and audio elements. Medium may require you to provide documentation proving you own sufficient rights to lock a story.

The consequences of locking stories when you lack the rights to do so or failing to provide adequate documentation upon request include unlocking stories, withholding revenue, suspension, or termination from the Partner Program, and suspension or termination of your Medium account.

You are not entitled to earn or receive any revenue in connection with your content if one or more third parties claim rights to any element(s) of your content.

These Partner Terms are not legal advice. If you plan to lock and earn revenue on a story containing any content you did not create, you may want to talk to a lawyer first to ensure you own all rights required to do so.

Termination

Medium reserves the right to unlock a story at any time, which will end that story’s ability to generate revenue. Medium reserves the right in its sole discretion to disable your ability to receive any revenue under the Partner Program, suspend your participation in the Partner Program, or terminate your participation in the Partner Program at any time for any reason, including but not limited to the failure to meet the Eligibility Requirements, sustained inactivity in the Partner Program, or violation of any terms contained herein.

If your participation in the Partner Program is terminated for any reason, your locked stories will be unlocked and can no longer generate revenue, and you will no longer be eligible to earn Referral Earnings.

Payment

To accrue or receive payment of any revenues under the Partner Program, you must be a Partner Program participant in good standing (meaning for example, your monetization is not currently disabled, you are not currently suspended, you are not violating Terms or have not violated the Terms, or have not been terminated), have at all times an active Medium account, and have at all times an active payout method associated with your Medium account. Medium does not owe you any revenue that may be associated with your content or Referral Earnings during any period when you are not in good standing in the Partner Program, do not have a valid Medium account, or do not have an active payout method. You will not receive any revenue if you do not have a payout account in a geographic region where the Partner Program is available. The list of available geographic regions is available here. Medium reserves the right to require that your revenue meet a minimum payout threshold before Medium disburses payment. In the event that you quit or are removed from the Partner Program, Medium will disburse payment to you up to and through the date you are no longer in the Partner Program, regardless of the minimum payout threshold.

Changes or Discontinuation of Partner Program

Medium reserves the right to modify, suspend, or discontinue the Partner Program. Medium will not be liable to you or any third party for any such modification, suspension, or termination. Medium may change these Partner Program Terms from time to time so we encourage you to periodically review this page for the most up-to-date version.

Taxes

If required by law, you are responsible for reporting and paying any applicable taxes in connection with your participation in the Partner Program. Such taxes may include duties, customs fees, or other taxes (other than income tax), along with any related penalties or interest.

Governing Law & Forum

The governing law, mandatory forum, and dispute resolution provisions of Medium’s Terms of Service also apply to these Partner Program Terms and any dispute arising under them.

Miscellaneous

You participate in the Partner Program at your own risk. You agree that you are solely responsible for your actions in connection with the Partner Program, any breach of your obligations under the Partner Program Terms, and for the consequences of any such breach. By participating in the Referral Program, you agree to comply with applicable laws and regulatory standards and guidelines, including the FTC Guides.

Any capitalized terms used but not defined in these Partner Program Terms have the meanings given to them in Medium’s Terms of Service. Except as modified by these Partner Program Terms, Medium’s Terms of Service remain in effect. Medium’s right to modify or revise the Terms of Service also applies to these Partner Program Terms.

Contact Us

If you have questions or feedback about the Partner Program, you can email at us at help.medium.com.