Medium Terms of Service

We’ll try to make this as painless as possible.

This is a contract between you and The Obvious Corporation, applicable when you use the Medium site, services, and products.

Even if your eyes normally glaze over at the word “Terms”, it’s a good idea to read these Terms carefully before you use Medium. For one thing, we want your feedback and suggestions on how to make them better. (For real: Email your input to terms@medium.com.) For another, we’ve worked to make them as easy-to-understand as possible.

1. What We Mean When We Say...

To keep from having to type long lawyerly word chains over and over, these Terms use some short-hand expressions. So when we say:

- “Site”, we mean medium.com;
- “Medium Services”, we mean medium.com along with all the other domains, products, applications, services, and content provided by The Obvious Corporation under the Medium brand name;
- “Agreement”, we mean these Terms of Service, a.k.a. the document you are eyeballing right now;
- “Medium”, “we”, or “us”, we mean The Obvious Corporation, a Delaware corporation, collectively with its agents, consultants, employees, officers, and directors;
- “Subscriber” or “you”, we mean you, whether you are a person or acting on behalf of an entity you are authorized to bind;
- “Content”, we mean any creative expression including video, audio, photographs, images, illustrations, animations, logos, tools, written posts, replies, and comments, information, data, text, software, scripts, executable files, graphics, and interactive features, any of which may be generated, provided, or otherwise made accessible on or through Medium Services; and
- “Subscriber Content”, we mean all Content that is posted or otherwise provided or transferred to Medium Services by a Subscriber, including you.

2. Accepting the Terms of Service

Please read these Terms of Service, our Privacy Policy, and our Medium Rules carefully before using medium.com or the other Medium-branded domains, products, services, applications, or content provided by The Obvious Corporation. By using Medium Services, you agree to become bound by all the terms and conditions of this Agreement. If you do not agree to all the terms and conditions of this Agreement, you shouldn't use Medium Services -- in fact, unless you agree, we can’t even permit you to use them. Yes, we’re that hardcore about our precious Terms.

3. Modifications to this Agreement

Medium reserves the right, in our sole discretion, to modify this Agreement at any time by posting a revised Agreement through Medium Services and by providing notice to you that this Agreement has changed, generally via e-mail where practical, and otherwise through Medium Services themselves. For example, we might provide a notification that appears when you log in or return to medium.com.

When you see a modification alert, it’s important to review and familiarize yourself with the changes. Modifications become effective as soon as they are posted, so using Medium Services after the posting and notice of a modification constitutes your acceptance of the terms and conditions of this Agreement as modified.

4. Use of Medium Services

Eligibility

Medium Services are intended for use by adults. No one under the age of thirteen (13) may use Medium Services or provide any information to Medium or to anyone else through Medium Services, including name, address, telephone number, and email address. In addition to the age requirement, you may only use Medium Services if you are able, legally speaking, to form a binding contract with Medium and are not legally prohibited from using Medium Services.

Service Changes and Limitations

Ineluctable modality of Medium: Medium Services change frequently, and their form and functionality may change without telling you first. Medium retains the right -- in our sole discretion, at any time, with or without notice -- to place limits on the use of Medium Services. We may also impose limits on certain Services or aspects of those Services or restrict your access to parts or all of Medium Services without notice or liability. Medium may change, suspend, or discontinue any or all of the Services at any time, including the availability of any product, feature, database, or Content (as defined below). Medium may also suspend Accounts at any time, in its sole discretion.

Limitations on Automated Use

Here’s a set of things we don’t allow Subscribers, or anyone else, to do while using Medium Services, generally done by automated processes. If you do one of these things, we will at least be annoyed, probably quite upset, certainly disappointed, almost definitely will suspend your Account, and in any case you will have broken this Agreement with us.

So, please:

(a) Don’t probe, scan, or test our systems or networks, or otherwise attempt to breach or circumvent any security or authentication measures. This includes well-intentioned testing for vulnerabilities; please contact us first if you want to help us do that.

(b) Don’t access or search or attempt to access or search Medium Services by means other than Medium’s currently available, published interfaces, pursuant to our terms and conditions. Other modes of access or search are OK only if we have specifically allowed it in a separate agreement, or if it’s permitted by Medium's robots.txt file or other robot exclusion mechanisms.

(c) Don’t scrape Medium Services. In particular, don’t scrape Content from Medium Services, without our express prior written consent.

(d) Don’t use the Services to send altered, deceptive, or false source-identifying information. For example, don’t use medium.com to send forged packet or email headers.

(e) Don’t interfere with or disrupt the access of any Subscriber, host or network. That includes things like sending a virus to, spamming, or overloading Medium Services. It also includes the scripted use of Medium Services in a way that interferes with, or creates an undue burden on, our systems.

5. Account and Authorization Services

As a condition to using some Medium Services, you may be required to utilize a third-party account and authorization service, such as Twitter. We reserve the right to refuse or cancel service if we find that you are using someone else’s authorization credentials. By using a third party authorization service, you are agreeing to that third party’s Terms of Use, Privacy Policy, and any other agreement between you and the third party.

6. Privacy

Whatever information you provide to Medium is subject to Medium's Privacy Policy, which governs our collection and use of your information. When you use Medium Services, you consent to the collection and use of this information, as detailed in the Privacy Policy.

7. Content and Subscriber Content

Ownership

You retain ownership of all intellectual property rights in your Subscriber Content. Medium (and/or other third parties) retains ownership of intellectual property rights in all Content other than Subscriber Content.

Subscriber Content License to Medium

When you transfer Subscriber Content to us through Medium Services, you give Medium a license to use it to operate and improve our products and offerings. That license has a number of different features: it is a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, sublicensable, transferable right and license to use, host, store, cache, reproduce, publish, display, perform, distribute, transmit, modify, adapt, and create derivative works of your Subscriber Content. When we say “adapt” Subscriber Content, that includes format modifications to make it look good on any networks, devices, services, or media through which users can access Medium Services.

This is a license for limited purposes only. Specifically, the rights you grant to us in this license are for the limited purposes of operating and improving Medium Services, and allowing us to develop new products and services. Likewise, the reference to “derivative works” does not give us a right to make substantive editorial changes or our own derivations. It does, though, enable Medium Subscribers to redistribute Subscriber Content from one post or collection to another in a manner that allows Subscribers to do things like add comments, quote, embed, or otherwise make reference to your Subscriber Content.

This license gives Medium the right to make all publicly-posted Content available to third-parties approved by Medium, so that those third parties can distribute or analyze the Content on other media and services. For example, sharing Subscriber Content through Twitter or Facebook.

One important thing to note: This license continues even if you stop using Medium Services, primarily because of the shared, social nature of Content on Medium. For example, when you post something publicly, others may choose to comment on it, embedding your Content in a social dialogue that cannot later be erased without retroactively censoring the speech of others.

When you use Medium Services, you agree that you will respect the copyright, trademark, and trade secret rights of others. You represent that you have all of the necessary rights to grant this license to Medium for all Subscriber Content you submit.

Content License to You

As a Subscriber of Medium Services, Medium grants you a worldwide, non-exclusive, non-sublicensable, and non-transferable license to download, store, view, display, perform, redistribute, and create derivative works of Content solely in connection with your use of, and in accordance with the functionality and restrictions of, Medium Services.

Compliance with Medium Rules

You agree that you won't post Subscriber Content that violates, or otherwise use your Account in ways that violate, the Medium Rules.

Termination and Deletion

When you delete particular pieces of Subscriber Content from Medium Services, we will make reasonable efforts to make it inaccessible and to cease use of it. However, we have to point out, and you understand and agree, that (a) caching of, copies of, or references to the Subscriber Content may not be immediately removed; (b) such removed Subscriber Content may persist in backups for a reasonable period of time; and (c) such removed Subscriber Content may be available and stored on our servers through the accounts of other Subscribers, when, for example, it has been the subject of commentary and quotation by others.

INTERLUDE

You’re doing great, Dear Reader of these Terms. Let’s rest a moment, shall we? You’ve earned it. So far, so good, right? Everything pretty clear? Well, don’t get too comfortable. Now’s the time to activate the full Galactic Armada of your vocabulary comprehension and ALL CAPS READING SKILLS. What follows are several sections of heavily lawyered-up provisions that we would love to express in a more human-readable, less legal manner. But their form and substance has evolved over time, often via brutal, hand-to-hand litigation or not-to-be-ignored authoritative rulings from courts and interpretations by agencies. This gives us little flexibility in the wording, at least if we want to avoid being laughed out of court in some Doomsday scenario that neither of us even wants to think about. So these following provisions are important, you should read them carefully, and we apologize for the excruciating lawyerly patois.

8. Warranty Disclaimer; Services Available on an "AS-IS" Basis

Your access to and use of Medium Services or any Content is at your own risk. YOU UNDERSTAND AND AGREE THAT MEDIUM SERVICES ARE PROVIDED TO YOU ON AN "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" BASIS. WITHOUT LIMITING THE FOREGOING, TO THE FULL EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, MEDIUM DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR NON-INFRINGEMENT.

Medium makes no representations or warranties of any kind with respect to Medium Services, including any representation or warranty that the use of Medium Services will (a) be timely, uninterrupted or error-free or operate in combination with any other hardware, software, system or data, (b) meet your requirements or expectations, (c) be free from errors or that defects will be corrected, or (d) be free of viruses or other harmful components. Medium also makes no representations or warranties of any kind with respect to Content; Subscriber Content, in particular, is provided by and is solely the
responsibility of, the Subscribers providing that Content. No advice or
information, whether oral or written, obtained from Medium or through Medium Services, will create any warranty not expressly made herein.

9. Release From Liability

You release, to the fullest extent permitted by law, Medium, its directors, officers, shareholders, employees, representatives, consultants, agents, suppliers, and/or distributors from responsibility, liability, claims, demands, and/or damages (actual and consequential) of every kind and nature, known and unknown, arising out of or in any way connected with the following:

- Disputes between Subscribers, including those between you and other Subscribers.

- Third party sites and services, including content found on such sites
and services.

- Disputes concerning any use of or action taken using your Account by you or a third party.

- Claims relating to the unauthorized access to any data communications or Content stored under or relating to your Account, including unauthorized use or alteration of such communications or your Content.

If you are a California resident, you waive California Civil Code §1542,
which says: “A general release does not extend to claims which the creditor does not know or suspect to exist in his favor at the time of executing the release, which if known by him must have materially affected his settlement
with the debtor.”

10. Limitation of Liability

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, MEDIUM, ITS DIRECTORS, OFFICERS, SHAREHOLDERS, EMPLOYEES, REPRESENTATIVES, CONSULTANTS, AGENTS,
SUPPLIERS, AND/OR DISTRIBUTORS SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR: (A) ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, EXEMPLARY PUNITIVE, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OF ANY KIND WHATSOEVER; (B) LOSS OF: PROFITS, REVENUE, DATA, USE, GOOD-WILL, OR OTHER INTANGIBLE LOSSES; (C) DAMAGES RELATING TO YOUR ACCESS TO, USE OF, OR INABILITY TO ACCESS OR USE MEDIUM SERVICES; (D) DAMAGES RELATING TO ANY CONDUCT
OR CONTENT OF ANY THIRD PARTY OR SUBSCRIBER USING MEDIUM SERVICES, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, DEFAMATORY, OFFENSIVE OR ILLEGAL CONDUCT OR CONTENT; AND/OR (E) DAMAGES IN ANY MANNER RELATING TO ANY CONTENT. THIS LIMITATION APPLIES TO ALL CLAIMS, WHETHER BASED ON WARRANTY, CONTRACT, TORT, OR ANY
OTHER LEGAL THEORY, WHETHER OR NOT MEDIUM HAS BEEN INFORMED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE, AND FURTHER WHERE A REMEDY SET FORTH HEREIN IS
FOUND TO HAVE FAILED ITS ESSENTIAL PURPOSE.

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, THE TOTAL LIABILITY OF MEDIUM AND ITS DIRECTORS, OFFICERS, SHAREHOLDERS, EMPLOYEES, REPRESENTATIVES, CONSULTANTS, AGENTS, SUPPLIERS, AND/OR DISTRIBUTORS, FOR ANY CLAIM UNDER THIS AGREEMENT, INCLUDING FOR ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES, IS LIMITED TO THE GREATER OF FIFTY DOLLARS (US$50.00) OR THE AMOUNT YOU PAID US
TO USE THE APPLICABLE SERVICE(S).

11. Exclusions to Warranties and Limitation of Liability

Some jurisdictions may not allow the exclusion of certain warranties or the exclusion/limitation of liability as set forth in Section 10, so the
limitations above may not apply to you.

12. Termination

Either you or we can terminate this Agreement at any time by notifying the other party. Medium may also terminate or suspend your access to or ability to use any and all Medium Services immediately, without prior notice or liability, for any reason or no reason, including (but not limited to) if you breach any of the terms or conditions of this Agreement. In particular, Medium may immediately
terminate or suspend Accounts that have been flagged for repeat copyright infringement.

Upon termination of your ability to use a Medium Service, your right to use or access that Service and any Content will immediately cease. All provisions of this Agreement which by their nature should survive
termination shall survive termination, including, without limitation,
ownership provisions, warranty disclaimers, and limitations of liability.

Termination of your access to and use of Medium Services shall not relieve you of any obligations arising or accruing prior to such termination or limit any liability which you otherwise may have to Medium or any third party.

13. Legal Disputes

You and Medium agree that we will resolve any claim or controversy at law or equity that arises out of this Agreement or Medium Services in accordance with this Section or as you and Medium otherwise agree in writing. Before resorting to litigation, we strongly encourage you to contact us directly to seek a resolution.

Choice of Law for Legal Disputes: This Agreement shall be governed in all respects by the laws of the State of California without regard to its conflict of laws provisions. The United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods will not apply in any way to these Terms or to the transactions contemplated by these Terms.

Where a Lawsuit Must Occur: The exclusive jurisdiction and venue of any action to prevent the actual or threatened infringement, misappropriation or violation of a party’s copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets, patents or other intellectual property rights will be the state and federal courts located in the City and County of San Francisco, California. You and we both waive any objection to jurisdiction and venue in those courts.

Waiver of Jury Trial and Class Action: You acknowledge and agree that you and we each waive the right to a trial by jury or to participate as a plaintiff or class member in any purported class action or representative proceeding against the other.

Binding Agreement to Arbitrate with Limited Exceptions: You and we each agree that any dispute, claim or controversy arising out of or relating to these Terms shall be settled by binding arbitration, except that each party retains the right to bring an individual action in small claims court and the right to seek injunctive or other equitable relief in a court of competent jurisdiction to prevent the actual or threatened infringement, misappropriation or violation of a party’s copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets, patents or other intellectual property rights.

Waiver of Class Action Arbitration: Unless both you and we otherwise agree in writing, the arbitrator may not consolidate more than one party’s claims and may not otherwise preside over any form of any class or representative proceeding. If the previous sentence is held to be unenforceable, then the remaining paragraphs of this Section on Legal Disputes relating to arbitration are void.

Arbitration Rules: The arbitration will be administered by the American Arbitration Association (“AAA”) in accordance with the Commercial Arbitration Rules and the Supplementary Procedures for Consumer Related Disputes then in effect, except as modified by this dispute resolution section. (The AAA Rules are available here.) The Federal Arbitration Act will govern the interpretation and enforcement of this Section.

Arbitration Process: A party who desires to initiate arbitration must provide the other party with a written Demand for Arbitration as specified in the AAA Rules. (The AAA provides a form Demand for Arbitration and a separate form for California residents.) The arbitrator will be either a retired judge or an attorney licensed to practice law and will be selected by the parties from the AAA’s roster of arbitrators. If the parties are unable to agree upon an arbitrator within seven (7) days of delivery of the Demand for Arbitration, then the AAA will appoint the arbitrator in accordance with the AAA Rules.

Arbitration Location and Procedure: Unless you and we otherwise agree, the arbitration will be conducted in the county, city or municipality where you reside. If your claim does not exceed $10,000, then the arbitration will be conducted solely on the basis of the documents that you and we submit to the arbitrator, unless you request a hearing or the arbitrator determines that a hearing is necessary. If your claim exceeds $10,000, your right to a hearing will be determined by the AAA Rules. Subject to the AAA Rules, the arbitrator will have the discretion to direct a reasonable exchange of information by the parties, consistent with the expedited nature of the arbitration.

Arbitrator’s Decision: The arbitrator will render an award within the time frame specified in the AAA Rules. The arbitrator’s decision will include the essential findings and conclusions upon which the arbitrator based the award. Judgment on the arbitration award may be entered in any court having jurisdiction thereof. The arbitrator’s award of damages must be consistent with the terms of the “Limitation of Liability” section above as to the types and amounts of damages for which a party may be held liable. The arbitrator may award declaratory or injunctive relief only in favor of the claimant and only to the extent necessary to provide relief warranted by the claimant’s individual claim. If you prevail in arbitration you will be entitled to an award of attorneys’ fees and expenses, to the extent provided under applicable law. We will not seek, and hereby waive all rights we may have under applicable law to recover, attorneys’ fees and expenses if we prevail in arbitration.

Arbitration Fees: Your responsibility to pay any AAA filing, administrative and arbitrator fees will be solely as set forth in the AAA Rules. However, if your claim for damages does not exceed $75,000, we will pay reasonable filing, administrative, and arbitrator fees unless the arbitrator finds that either the substance of your claim or the relief sought in your Demand for Arbitration was frivolous or was brought for an improper purpose (as measured by the standards set forth in Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11(b)).

Changes: If we change this dispute resolution section after the date you first accepted these Terms (or accepted any subsequent changes to these Terms), you may reject any such change by sending us written notice (including by emailing us at [terms@medium.com] within 30 days of the date such change became effective, as indicated in the “Last Modified” date above. By rejecting any change, you are agreeing that you will arbitrate any Dispute between you and us in accordance with the provisions of this dispute resolution section as of the date you first accepted these Terms (or accepted any subsequent changes to these Terms).

14. Miscellaneous Lawyerly Provisions

This Agreement, as modified from time to time, constitutes the entire agreement between you and Medium in connection with Medium Services. This Agreement replaces all prior or contemporaneous understandings or agreements, written or oral, regarding the subject
matter hereof and constitutes the entire and exclusive agreement between the parties.

The failure of either party to exercise in any respect any right provided for herein shall not be deemed a waiver of any further rights hereunder. If any provision of this Agreement is found to be unenforceable or invalid, that provision shall be limited or eliminated to the minimum extent necessary so that this Agreement shall otherwise remain in full force and effect and enforceable. This Agreement is not assignable, transferable, or sublicensable by you except with Medium's prior written consent.

Medium may assign this Agreement in whole or in part at any time without your consent. No agency, partnership, joint venture, or employment is created as a result of this Agreement and you do not have any authority of any kind to bind Medium in any respect
whatsoever. Any notice to Medium that is required or permitted by this Agreement shall be in writing and shall be deemed effective upon receipt, when delivered in person by nationally recognized overnight courier or mailed by first class, registered or certified mail, postage prepaid,to The Obvious Corporation, 800 Market Street, Suite 800, San Francisco CA 94102.

15. Special Provisions for Subscribers Located Outside of the United States

Medium provides global products and services and enables a global community for individuals to create, publish, and consume great content. Medium’s operations are, however, located in the United States, and Medium’s policies and procedures are based on United States law.

As such, the following provisions apply specifically to Subscribers located outside of the United States: (1) you consent to the transfer, storage, and processing of your information, including but not limited to Subscriber Content and any personal information, to and in the United States and/or other countries; and (2) if you are using Medium Services from a country embargoed by the United States, or are on the United States Treasury Department's list of “Specially Designated Nationals,” you agree that you will not conduct any commercial
activities using or through Medium Services.

16. DMCA Copyright Policy

Medium deals with copyright infringement on Medium Services in accordance with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

The address of Medium’s Designated Agent for copyright takedown notices is listed below.

Reporting Instances of Copyright Infringement

If you believe that Subscriber Content residing or accessible on or through Medium Services infringes a copyright, please send a notice of copyright infringement containing the following information to the Designated Agent at the address below:

- Identification of the work or material being infringed.

- Identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing,
including its location, with sufficient detail so that Medium is
capable of finding it and verifying its existence.

- Contact information for the notifying party,
including name, address, telephone number and e-mail address.

- A statement that the notifying party has a good faith belief that the
material is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent or law.

- A statement made under penalty of perjury that the information
provided in the notice is accurate and that the notifying party is
authorized to make the complaint on behalf of the copyright owner.

- A physical or electronic signature of a person authorized to act on
behalf of the owner of the copyright that has been allegedly
infringed.

After removing material pursuant to a valid DMCA notice, Medium will immediately notify the Subscriber responsible for the allegedly infringing material that it has removed or disabled access to the material. Medium reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to immediately terminate the account of any Subscriber who is the subject of repeated DMCA notifications.

Submitting a DMCA Counter-Notification

If you believe you are the wrongful subject of a DMCA notification, you
may file a counter-notification with Medium by providing the following information to the Designated Agent at the address below:

- The specific URLs of material that Medium has removed or to which
Medium has disabled access.

- Your name, address, telephone number, and email address.

- A statement that you consent to the jurisdiction of Federal District
Court for the judicial district in which your address is located (or
the federal district courts located in the City and County of San Francisco, California if your address is outside of the United States), and that you will accept service of process from the person who provided the original DMCA notification or an agent of such person.

- The following statement: “I swear, under penalty of perjury, that I
have a good faith belief that the material in question was removed or
disabled as a result of mistake or misidentification.”

- Your signature.

Upon receipt of a valid counter-notification, Medium will forward it to
the notifying party who submitted the original DMCA notification. The original notifying party (or the copyright holder he or she represents) will then have ten (10) days to notify us that he or she has filed legal action relating to the allegedly infringing material. If Medium does not receive any such notification within ten (10) days, we may restore the material to Medium Services.

Designated Agent

The Obvious Corporation
800 Market Street, Suite 800
San Francisco, CA 94102
Attn: Copyright Agent
Fax: +1-415-508-5007
Email: copyright@medium.com

The End.