Thursday Thoughts: Is Patreon Going to Steal Your Stuff?

~ M.A. Kropp

This is a legitimate question, I think. Here’s what I was pointed to by another writer:

The Beginning of the End for Patreon?

A few caveats:

  1. I do not use Patreon personally, but I know a lot of people do.
  2. I am not a lawyer and I don’t pretend to understand all the ins and outs of what is presented in the above article. I thought it might be of interest to others, however.

So, in the end, I don’t know. It sure looks, at first glance, like Patreon could use anything you post on your Patreon for whatever they wanted. But reading the comments, maybe not. And yes, as noted in the comments, it’s not that different from some of the language in Amazon’s KDP Select contract. I don’t use Select when I publish on Amazon, so I don’t know what they may or may not do with anything published through the program.

I do know several people I am aware of are closing their Patreon accounts because of the noted clause. If you use Patreon or are thinking  about it, this may be something you might want to look into a bit deeper before you continue. Maybe even get your own lawyer to look at it and answer any questions you might have.

As they say: Buyer Beware! And Be Aware.

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2 thoughts on “Thursday Thoughts: Is Patreon Going to Steal Your Stuff?”

  1. “…it could ultimately reduce Patreon’s generous 90 percent pay-out model.”

    Generous? Perhaps for some definitions of generous. Weird how monetary contributions intended for creators being delivered to the creators is framed as a magnanamous act.

    Definitely steering clear of this platform, certainly while this plays out.

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    1. I agree. The whole idea is for people to help a creator create. To imply that Patreon (or anyone) giving those contributions to the intended end is being generous is a bit off. I think caution is advised. It may turn out to be nothing of concern, but it looks too easy for them to exploit this.

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