Medium Partner Program Terms
Effective as of June 1, 2026.
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 (i) put a story from your user account behind Medium’s paywall (“locking” a story) and receive revenue based on its performance among Medium members, and (ii) subject to your further evaluation and acceptance by Medium, to participate in the Editor Partner Program, as more specifically defined and described below. Medium reserves the right to modify, suspend, or discontinue the Partner Program, or any portion thereof, at any time and without advance notice to you. Medium will not be liable to you or any third party for any such modification, suspension, or termination.
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 1, 2024, 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, 2024. 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.
Ongoing Eligibility for all Partner Program participants: To remain in the Partner Program, you must continue to meet the Eligibility Requirements. 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 and assessed quality 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 above $10 USD 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. 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.
Earning on Editing Activities
As a participant in the Partner Program, you will be eligible to apply to participate in Medium’s Editor Partner Program (the “EPP”). Medium reserves the right to admit or reject any applicant to the EPP at Medium’s sole discretion. Eligibility requirements for the EPP are described here and may be changed by Medium at any time without notice.
If Medium accepts your application to participate in the EPP, you will be permitted to edit eligible stories submitted to Medium publications of which you are an owner or an editor, in accordance with Medium’s editorial guidelines and policies. For each story you edit, you may earn compensation based on that story’s performance, as described in Medium’s EPP Pay Structure here. Medium retains sole discretion to determine which stories are eligible for editing under the EPP. Medium reserves the right to modify, suspend, or discontinue the EPP, or any portion thereof, at any time and without advance notice to you.
Note to Writers
Stories submitted to Medium may be edited by an editor participating in EPP. EPP editors may receive compensation from Medium based on the performance of stories they edit. Editor compensation is paid by Medium and does not affect the author’s earnings. By submitting a story to Medium, you acknowledge that your story may be edited by an EPP editor who may earn compensation in connection with your story’s performance.
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 from Medium’s deprecated Referral Earnings program.
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 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 $10 minimum payout threshold before Medium disburses payment. In the event that you quit or are removed from the Partner Program and have not met the minimum payout threshold OR have not completed your payout settings, Medium reserves the right to forfeit the payment.
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.
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 submit a request at help.medium.com.
