Graphene Studio — Closed Beta Terms

These terms apply when you use Graphene Studio (the audiobook production tools at graphene.fm/studio) during the Phase 1 closed beta. By submitting a beta application, uploading a manuscript, or rendering any audio through the platform, you agree to these terms.

Graphene Studio is operated by Point Seven Studio(the entity that operates HiveJournal and Graphene). Questions: reply to your welcome email or write to sandon@hivejournal.com.

1. Your manuscript, your rights

You may only upload a manuscript that you have the legal right to convert into audiobook form. By uploading, you confirm that:

• You own the copyright in the underlying work, OR you hold the audiobook (audio adaptation / phonorecord) rights via a written agreement with the rightsholder.
• You have not granted exclusive audiobook rights elsewhere in a way that would conflict with producing an audiobook via Graphene Studio (e.g. an existing exclusive contract with a traditional audiobook publisher).
• The work doesn't infringe third-party copyrights, trademarks, rights of publicity, or other rights. Quotation/fair-use is yours to assess and defend.
• The work isn't defamatory or unlawful under the laws of your jurisdiction.

We rely on this covenant. If a rightsholder contacts us with a credible claim that you didn't hold the rights you asserted, we'll remove the affected work and may terminate your beta access. You agree to indemnify Point Seven Studio for any third-party claim arising from a manuscript you upload that you didn't hold rights to.

2. Distribution platform compliance is yours

Graphene Studio produces a distribution-spec .m4b file you can upload to Audible (ACX), Findaway Voices, Apple Books, Google Play Books, or sell directly. Each of those platforms has its own ToS, content guidelines, exclusivity terms, and metadata requirements. Compliance with the platform you choose is your responsibility, including but not limited to:

• ACX exclusivity: ACX's 7-year exclusive deal pays higher royalties than non-exclusive. We don't track which deal you signed; the .m4b we produce can be uploaded to any platform you have rights to upload to.
• Cover art rights: we use the cover image embedded in your manuscript file (or one you upload separately). You assert the same rights covenant as in Section 1 with respect to the cover.
• AI-narration disclosure: some platforms (including ACX as of mid-2026) require authors to indicate when an audiobook is AI-narrated. Disclose this when uploading to the platform.
• Platform metadata: the title, author, and description you submit during upload populate the .m4b metadata. Make sure those match what you'll register on the distribution platform.

3. Upstream Terms of Service

Graphene Studio uses third-party services for text-to-speech and large-language-model generation. Those services have their own Terms of Service that flow through to you when you use Studio:

• ElevenLabs handles the text-to-speech rendering. Their Terms prohibit certain content (e.g. content that promotes violence, content meant to deceive about a real person's statements, certain sexually explicit content involving minors). See elevenlabs.io/terms.
• OpenAI and Anthropic are used for non-audio LLM tasks (chapter title detection, lexicon suggestion, voice casting). Their content policies apply to the text passed through them.

Content that violates an upstream service's Terms may be rejected, throttled, or terminate your access without warning. We forward complaints from those services that name your account.

4. Voice cloning policy

Graphene Studio does not clone the voice of any real person, including the author's own voice. The voices available to assign to your narrator and characters are drawn from the curated ElevenLabs library — synthetic voices that were trained with the consent of professional voice actors who were compensated for the licensing.

We won't implement custom voice cloning during Phase 1, even on request. If voice cloning ships in a future phase, it will require explicit written consent from the person whose voice is being cloned, and we'll re-publish a policy at that time.

5. Beta access, fees, and your data

Phase 1 closed beta is free. We absorb the ElevenLabs TTS cost for the beta. We may impose a monthly character cap per user (currently 500,000 characters / month for Creator-tier accounts, which covers roughly 10 full chapters) to prevent runaway cost from a stuck workflow.

Your manuscript text, audio renderings, lexicon entries, character voice assignments, and metadata are stored on Supabase infrastructure in the United States. Audio files are served from Supabase Storage with public URLs (unguessable but not signed — don't treat them as confidential post-render).

We may use the production telemetry (render counts, character counts, error rates) to improve the platform. We will NOT use your manuscript text to train LLMs or share your prose with third parties beyond the upstream services in Section 3 that need it to do their job.

See the Privacy Policy for the full data-handling picture.

6. Beta access is revocable

During the closed beta, we may revoke Creator access from any account at any time, with or without cause. If we revoke access, we'll preserve any rendered audio for at least 30 days so you can export your work, and we'll respond to email requests for data export.

You may stop using Studio at any time. To delete your data, email sandon@hivejournal.com.

7. No warranties; limited liability

Graphene Studio is provided as-is during the closed beta. We don't warrant that renders will be defect-free, that the platform will be available, or that any specific feature will persist. We don't warrant that an audiobook produced via Studio will be accepted by any distribution platform.

To the maximum extent permitted by law, Point Seven Studio's total liability arising from your use of Graphene Studio during the closed beta is capped at the greater of (a) the fees you paid us for Studio (which during beta is $0) or (b) $100 USD.

8. Changes to these terms

We may update these terms; the new version will be posted at this URL with an updated effective date. Material changes will be emailed to all active beta participants at least 7 days before they take effect. Continuing to use Studio after a material change constitutes acceptance.

9. Governing law

These terms are governed by the laws of the State of New Mexico, USA, without regard to conflict-of-laws principles. Disputes go first to good-faith negotiation, then to binding arbitration in Santa Fe County, NM.