Legal
Terms of Service
The rules for using Storybench, in plain language. If anything here is unclear, email us at [email protected].
The short version
Last updated: 15 June 2026
You write your stories and Storybench helps illustrate them with AI. You own the books you make and can sell them. You must be 18 or older. Don’t use Storybench for anything illegal or abusive, and never for sexual content involving children. Subscriptions and credits aren’t refundable, including credits you’ve already spent on a generation. We run from New Zealand and these Terms are governed by New Zealand law.
This is a summary for convenience. The full terms below are what actually apply.
1. Acceptance of these Terms
By creating an account or using Storybench (“the service”, “we”, “us”), you agree to these Terms of Service. If you don’t agree, please don’t use the service. Storybench is operated from New Zealand. For any questions about these Terms, contact us at [email protected].
2. Eligibility
You must be 18 years or older to use Storybench. By using the service you confirm that you are at least 18.
3. Your account
You sign in with a magic link sent to your email, or with your Google account. There are no passwords. Because access is tied to your email, you’re responsible for keeping your email account secure.
You’re responsible for all activity that happens under your account. Let us know promptly at [email protected] if you think someone else has accessed it.
4. What Storybench is
Storybench is a tool for making illustrated books: you write the words and you direct the look. You bring the story; the illustration is the tool, whether the AI draws it or you bring your own art.
Storybench is a live, actively developed service. Features may change, be added, or be removed as we keep building it.
5. Your content and the licence you give us
You keep ownership of the stories, text, and images you create or upload. To run the service for you, you grant Storybench a limited licence to host, store, process, and display that content.
That licence also covers sending your content to third-party AI providers as needed to operate the service. For example, your prompts and the reference images you upload are sent to our image-generation provider so it can create your illustrations. The licence exists only to provide the service to you and lasts only as long as we need it for that purpose.
6. Your output, ownership, and commercial use
You own the books and content you create with Storybench, and you may use and sell them commercially — for example through print-on-demand services or Amazon KDP. We don’t take a cut of your sales and we don’t claim ownership of your finished books.
An honest caveat about copyright: under current law in many countries, purely AI-generated images may have limited or no copyright protection. Your human-written text, and your creative selection and arrangement of the elements in your book, are yours. Storybench does not guarantee that any output is original or that it doesn’t resemble or infringe existing works. You are responsible for what you publish. If commercial use or copyright matters to your project, get your own legal advice.
7. Acceptable use
You agree not to use Storybench for any of the following:
- Anything illegal.
- Any sexual content involving minors, or content that sexualises children. We have zero tolerance for this: we will remove it, terminate the account, and report it to the relevant authorities (for example NCMEC or the New Zealand Police).
- Content that infringes someone else’s intellectual property.
- Uploading images of real, identifiable people without their consent.
- Hateful, harassing, or abusive content.
- Attempts to break, overload, probe, or reverse-engineer the service.
- Reselling or sharing your access with others.
- Using the service in any way that breaks the policies of the AI providers we rely on (for example, a provider’s prohibited-use rules).
We may review or scan content to enforce these rules, and we may suspend or terminate accounts that violate them.
8. Real people and uploaded references
We recommend against uploading photos of real people. The inputs Storybench is built for are rough sketches and fictional character references.
If you do upload an image of a real person, you confirm that you have the right to do so and that you have their consent. Never upload an image of a real child for any inappropriate use.
9. AI outputs and their limits
Illustrations and writing helpers are produced by third-party AI models. Results can be inaccurate, unexpected, repetitive, or may resemble existing works. Everything is provided on an “as is” basis, and you should review output before publishing it.
10. Payments, credits, and refunds
Paid plans (subscriptions) and credit top-ups are handled by Stripe. We never see or store your card details.
How credits work: monthly plan credits reset and expire at the end of each billing cycle. Purchased top-up credits do not expire while your account is active.
Refunds: subscriptions and credit top-ups are non-refundable. In particular, credits spent on a generation are non-refundable even if you are not happy with the result, because each generation runs a paid AI model and that cost is incurred the moment the image is generated, whether or not you like it.
Auto-renewal: subscriptions renew automatically until you cancel them from the customer portal. You can cancel anytime and keep access until the end of the period you’ve paid for.
Prices and plans may change. If we change the price of a subscription, the new price applies from your next billing cycle, and we’ll give you notice first. Prices may be shown exclusive of taxes (such as GST), and you’re responsible for any taxes that apply to your purchase.
Nothing in this section limits any rights you have that cannot be excluded under applicable consumer law, including the New Zealand Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 (and equivalent consumer protections where you live).
11. Availability and changes
Storybench is provided “as is”. It may have downtime, change over time, and have features added or removed without notice.
12. Termination
You can stop using Storybench at any time. We may suspend or terminate your access if you breach these Terms or the acceptable-use rules above.
13. Disclaimers and limitation of liability
To the maximum extent permitted by law, Storybench is provided “as is” and “as available”, without warranties of any kind, express or implied. We don’t warrant that the service will be uninterrupted, error-free, or that output will meet your expectations.
To the maximum extent permitted by law, our total liability to you for any claim relating to the service is limited. We are not liable for indirect, incidental, or consequential losses.
Nothing in this section excludes or limits any guarantees, rights, or remedies you have that cannot be excluded under applicable consumer law, including the New Zealand Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 (and equivalent consumer protections where you live).
14. Indemnity
You agree to cover (indemnify) Storybench against claims, losses, and costs arising from your content, your misuse of the service, or your violation of these Terms.
15. Reporting infringement or abuse
If you believe content made or published with Storybench infringes your intellectual property, or breaks the rules above, email [email protected] with enough detail to identify the content and explain your concern. We review reports and will remove content or take other action where appropriate.
16. Feedback
If you send us ideas, suggestions, or feedback about Storybench, you agree we can use them to improve the service without any obligation or payment to you. This covers suggestions about the product itself, and does not affect your ownership of the books and content you create.
17. Privacy
How we handle your personal information is explained in our Privacy Policy, which forms part of these Terms. By using Storybench, you also agree to that policy.
18. General
If any part of these Terms is found to be unenforceable, the rest stay in force. If we don’t enforce a term, that isn’t a waiver of it. You may not transfer your account or these Terms to someone else without our consent; we may assign them as part of a sale or reorganisation of the service. These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy, are the entire agreement between you and Storybench about the service.
19. Changes to these Terms
We may update these Terms from time to time. When we do, we’ll change the “Last updated” date above, and we’ll notify you of material changes. Continuing to use Storybench after a change means you accept the updated Terms.
20. Governing law
These Terms are governed by the laws of New Zealand, and any disputes will be dealt with by the courts of New Zealand. This does not remove any consumer-law protections that apply to you and cannot be excluded.
21. Contact
Questions about these Terms? Email us at [email protected].