Thank you for your question Francine Fallara. This is not legal advice but my own reasons for why I decided to remove most of my pieces. Everyone should consult with their attorney to determine what is right for them. I considered the type of license we now grant Medium and that we also grant them the right to sublicense our writing:

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 on the Services.

(Emphasis added by me.)

This license is too open-ended for me to accept. I especially object to:

1. Medium hasn’t paid for this license in any significant way. In fact I have to pay them.
2. They have the right to sublicense my work. Why do they need this and why would I want to let them sublicense to just anyone?
3. There is no termination date or right for me to end this license/sublicense agreement.
4. It allows them to continue to use my work on later developed media formats and currently unknown distribution methods. Imagine that they take one of your poems and publish it in conjunction with “free advertising” for you by putting it on a cereal box or tea tag. Meanwhile they are paid handsomely for your work. Probably unlikely but definitely probable.

5. Not only can they use my work but they have a right to use my image.

6. The definition of Services is far too vague.

7. Why was this language deleted from the previous license:

We will never sell your content to third parties without your explicit permission.?

Given the pennies we get in exchange for our poetry and fiction, I’d rather retain my own rights and not lose any chance of creating a book of my prized work a publisher might be interested in publishing— no matter how unlikely that prospect is.

These are the prior terms:

You own the rights to the content you create and post on Medium.

By posting content to Medium, you give us a nonexclusive license to publish it on Medium Services, including anything reasonably related to publishing it (like storing, displaying, reformatting, and distributing it). In consideration for Medium granting you access to and use of the Services, you agree that Medium may enable advertising on the Services, including in connection with the display of your content or other information. We may also use your content to promote Medium, including its products and content. We will never sell your content to third parties without your explicit permission.