One of the article that was once front page of HN https://medium.com/@pixelmagazine/where-are-chernobyl-s-children-a-photojournalist-s-honest-project-in-the-age-of-disaster-tourism-4cd333ab80c7 was taken down in 48 hours by a DCMA notice from National Geographic, clamming "The license for Gerd's two images does not permit use on the publishing platform Medium, and was not part of our negotiation or contract. ", although we purchased proper license for "One-time, Non-exclusive rights to use image within the Gerd Ludwig interview piece for Pixel Magazine online blog.". We spend lots of energy conducting interview and writing the article. What should we do?
You talk to a lawyer (IANAL).<p>It does look at first glance however that your actual landing page links to your Medium page as your Blog (you treat G+ as a separate link). In this case, I would have a lawyer explain to them that you <i>host</i> your blog on Medium because that's where the cool kids are now (having moved on from tumblr of course).<p>So yeah, if you pixelmagazine.tumblr.com, they still might have filed a takedown but you'd still be right. Next time though, specify the URL to your blog in the contract (there should be a <i>definition</i> for the term Pixel Magazine blog, particularly since that's not your company's name!).
OP here<p>In the contract, there wasn't any URL address or domain specified. The only wording related to the content destination is "One-time, Non-exclusive rights to use image within the Gerd Ludwig interview piece for Pixel Magazine online blog." I think the problem is as many pointed out - that there was a confusion that the Pixel Magazine blog was hosted on Medium.com. We came up with the Pixel Magazine name very recently, and were also migrating our content to the new @pixelmagazine handle. We used to be @polarrist on medium. This might create more confusion because @polarrist is now all routing to @pixelmagazine now so <a href="https://medium.com/@polarrist/where-are-chernobyl-s-children-a-photojournalist-s-honest-project-in-the-age-of-disaster-tourism-4cd333ab80c7" rel="nofollow">https://medium.com/@polarrist/where-are-chernobyl-s-children...</a> is pointing to the same article. We added more branding elements (the logo) to make sure this is indeed the Pixel Magazine.<p>I think the take away from our experience is that, definitely make sure in the contract, specify the URL and domain name.<p>As we only maintain this one blog, I think the "one time,non exclusive" reflects the spirit of the contract more. We should have just specify that we will only post this in one and only one blog ever hosted on the internet.<p>We pretty much don't have a place to post this article anymore, until we hear back from NG.
Hey Borui! That sucks, sorry to hear.<p>A couple of suggestions:<p>1. Check with lawyer.<p>2. Review your contract for the license. Specifically if you define where your blog resides. Medium also clearly states "You’re responsible for the content you submit to Medium and assume all risks associated with it, including anyone else’s reliance on its accuracy, or claims relating to intellectual property or other legal rights. By posting, you represent that you own or have the necessary rights to post the content on Medium, and that doing so doesn’t conflict with any other licenses you’ve granted."<p>3. If your claim is correct, NG probably just made a mistake thinking "oh medium.com, we didn't allow that!", however if you contract very specifically dictates where the blog resides (ULR for example) they are most likely negligent. We can't let content creators simply throw out DMCA notices left and right without them doing their homework:<p><i>Think Long and Hard Before Filing a DMCA Notification or Counter-Notice<p>Please think carefully before submitting a claim or counter-notice, especially if you aren’t sure whether you are the actual rights holder or authorized to act on a rights holder’s behalf. There are legal and financial penalties for fraudulent and/or bad-faith claims. Please make sure you are the actual rights holder, or you have a good-faith belief that the material was removed in error, and that you understand the repercussions of submitting a false claim.</i>[0]<p>[0] - <a href="https://medium.com/policy/medium-terms-of-service-9db0094a1e0f" rel="nofollow">https://medium.com/policy/medium-terms-of-service-9db0094a1e...</a><p>[1] - <a href="https://medium.com/policy/mediums-copyright-and-dmca-policy-d126f73695" rel="nofollow">https://medium.com/policy/mediums-copyright-and-dmca-policy-...</a>
You say your contract said "for Pixel Magazine online blog" specifically. So maybe it's not just a question of whether Medium is a blog, but whether that publication was on the "Pixel magazine online blog."<p>But none of us are lawyers, we can't say. There is no official legal definition of 'a blog' so far as I know.
They probably were looking for more prominent "Pixel Magazine online blog" branding on the page. Medium doesn't really highlight the fact that you seem to be hosting said blog on their site, as opposed to it just being some random yahoo's article.
Conform to the fine-print-details of your license! Consult a lawyer.<p>If an expert says your use on Medium is defensible on legal grounds, you can "counter-notify" Medium, which may restore access unless/until National Geographic chooses to sue you.<p>On the other hand, if the license contract has definitions and requirements that might not be satisfied by appearance on Medium, just publish the article someplace that conforms to the requirements. Blurb/link (without the photos) from medium and other places. You don't need to die on the 'Medium' hill, there's plenty of ways to get your news out.
it´s always the question of the contract in detail... when the contract does not help, courts can. but be aware that it´s always like russian roulette, if you negotiate an online case, with a judge, who possibly does not even know facebook or understands the term "blog"...