Terms of use

Beta terms (version 2026-10-26). These terms cover the free beta. A lawyer reviews them before paid licenses start; if they change, the app asks you to accept the new version.

These terms are an agreement between you and The Tiber House LLC ("we", "us") about the Studio app by Aperhouse ("the app"). You accept them by ticking the box when you set up the app, or by using it. If you accept on behalf of a business, you confirm you're allowed to bind that business, and "you" means the business. The app is for businesses, not for personal or household use, and you must be at least 18.

1. The short version

• You run your own copy of the app on a server you choose. Your data and your clients' data stay on your server and with the services you connect. We don't receive them.
• The app is a tool, not a lawyer, accountant or financial adviser. Contract templates, the privacy policy draft, consent wording, payment and tax settings, guides and anything the assistant writes are starting points. You're responsible for what you send your clients and for following the laws where you work.
• You buy a license for one major version (for example, version 1) and get every update to it (1.x). The next major version is a separate purchase.
• The app is provided as it is, and our liability is limited (sections 15 and 16).

2. Your license

What you get. When you buy, we give you a license file. It lets you install and use the app for your own business, for the modules and the major version it names, on the web addresses it names (if any). It's non-exclusive and non-transferable. You may run one live copy, plus copies for testing, backups and moving servers.

How long. A license for a major version doesn't expire. It covers that version and every earlier one, with all their updates. Using a later major version needs a license for it.

Free trial. A new copy can be used for 30 days without a license. After that, the client pages of any module without a license pause until you add one. Your own side keeps working, so you can always see and export your data.

Beta versions. Versions numbered below 1 (for example 0.4) are a beta: free to use while the beta lasts, for testing and giving us feedback. A beta is unfinished. It may have bugs, change without notice, or stop working, and features may be removed or reset. Don't rely on a beta as your only record of anything important: keep your previous system or your own copies until you're confident in it. When version 1 is released, the beta ends and a license is needed as described above. Everything in sections 15 and 16 applies to betas in full.

What you may not do. You may not:

• share, sell, rent, lend or sublicense the app or your license file, or use one license for more than one business;
• host the app for other businesses, unless we agree in writing;
• get around, disable or change the license check;
• decompile, disassemble or reverse engineer the app, except to the extent the law or an open-source license (section 3) allows it despite this restriction;
• remove or change copyright, license or other notices.

We may end your license if you seriously break these terms and don't fix it within 30 days of our notice. You can then still export your data, but you must stop using the app.

3. Open-source parts

The app includes open-source components. They're listed, with their licenses, under Help → Legal → Open-source notices. Each is covered by its own license, and nothing in these terms limits your rights under those licenses. Where a license (such as the LGPL) gives you the right to replace or modify a component, or to reverse engineer for debugging such changes, that right comes first.

4. Your server, your data

You host it. You choose and pay for the server (for example Fly.io, Render or your own machine) and the services you connect (storage, email, payments). You're responsible for keeping them secure and paid for, for your passwords and two-step sign-in, and for the secret key that protects your backups. If the secret key is lost, backups can't be restored, and we can't recover it.

We don't have your data. The app stores your data and your clients' data on your server and with the services you connect, not with us. We can't see it, and we don't process it on your behalf. You are responsible for it under privacy laws, including telling your clients how you use their information. The app helps with a privacy policy draft, data export and deletion, but whether you comply is up to you.

What the app sends to us. Only what you choose to send:

• Update check: once a day (you can turn it off), the app downloads a public file listing new versions. Nothing about you or your studio is sent. Like any web request, it reveals your server's internet address to the service that hosts the file.
• Support requests and diagnostic reports: you send these from your own email when you ask for help. The diagnostic report shows counts and settings, not your clients' details, and you can read it before sending.

Backups. The app makes backups, but no backup system is perfect. Check that backups run (the app warns you when they don't) and keep a copy somewhere else for anything you can't lose.

5. Not legal, tax or financial advice

The app helps you run your business. It doesn't tell you what the law requires, and nothing in it is legal, tax, accounting or financial advice. That includes:

• Contracts: the starter contract is a structure only. Any template, example or AI draft is a starting point. Have your contract written or reviewed by a lawyer where you work.
• Privacy policy draft: a starting point that names the services the app uses. Privacy laws differ by place. Check yours.
• Consent and agreement wording shown to clients, such as the e-signature consent and the autopay agreement. It's general wording that suits many places but not every one.
• Payments, deposits, cancellation, refunds and late fees: whether these are allowed, and how much, depends on your contract and your local law. Some places limit late fees and non-refundable deposits.
• Sales tax: the app adds the rate you set. It doesn't work out what's taxable, what rate applies, or file or pay tax for you.
• Guides, help text and the assistant: general information only.

If you need advice, ask a qualified professional where you work.

6. Electronic signatures

The app lets your clients sign electronically and keeps a record of each signature: who signed, what they saw, when, and from which internet address. Laws such as the US ESIGN Act and UETA, and eIDAS in the EU, generally treat electronic signatures like handwritten ones, but:

• the rules depend on the place and the type of document, and some documents can't be signed electronically (for example wills, some family-law and court documents, and some property documents);
• when the law requires certain information to be given to a consumer in writing, extra consent and disclosure rules can apply;
• whether a particular agreement is valid and enforceable depends on its content and how it was made.

We don't promise that any signature or agreement will be enforceable. You're responsible for using electronic signatures only where they're allowed, and for giving clients a paper copy when they ask.

7. Payments

Payments go straight from your clients to your own Stripe account, under your agreement with Stripe. We're not a payment processor and never hold your money. You're responsible for:

• refunds, chargebacks, disputes and Stripe's fees;
• charging saved cards only with your client's agreement (the app records it, and lets clients turn autopay off), and following card network rules;
• any late fees, interest or deposits you charge, and making sure your contract allows them;
• collecting and paying any tax.

8. Emails and messages to your clients

The app sends emails from your own email account, in your name: proposals, reminders, gallery notices and review requests. You're responsible for what's sent and for following the rules that apply to it, such as anti-spam and marketing laws (for example CAN-SPAM in the US, CASL in Canada, and GDPR and ePrivacy rules in Europe).

Review requests. If you turn them on, follow the rules on reviews where you work. In the US, for example, the FTC forbids offering anything in exchange for reviews, asking only happy clients, and suppressing negative reviews. The app sends one request to every client whose gallery was delivered, not only to some.

9. The assistant

The assistant is optional. It uses your own account and key with an AI provider (such as Anthropic or OpenAI), and that provider's terms apply, including how it treats your data. You choose what the assistant can see. AI output can be wrong or incomplete: read anything it writes before you use it, and don't treat it as advice. It can't send, sign, pay or delete anything.

10. Other services

The app works with services we don't control, such as Stripe, Cloudflare, Backblaze, Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Fly.io, Render, print labs, email providers, AI providers and automation tools like Zapier. Your use of them is governed by their terms and prices, which can change. We're not responsible for them, their availability, or what they do with data you send them. When you connect a webhook or integration, the data you choose is sent to that address.

11. Your clients and your work

The relationship with your clients is yours. We're not a party to your contracts, bookings, galleries or print orders, and we're not responsible for your services, your prints, your prices or your disputes with clients. Pages shown to your clients carry your name and policies.

12. Accessibility

Client pages are designed to meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 at level AA, and they're checked automatically with each update. Your own content and choices (photos, documents, wording, colors and files you upload) also affect accessibility. The accessibility statement on your client pages is yours: check that it's true for your pages.

13. Updates and support

Updates within your major version are free. We'll tell you about new versions in the app. We aim to fix security problems promptly, but we can't guarantee that we'll release updates, fix every problem, or keep a feature. Support is by email, in English, with no guaranteed response time unless we agree otherwise. When a new major version comes out, we'll keep fixing security problems in the previous one for at least 12 months.

14. Buying, refunds and taxes

Paid licenses haven't started yet: the beta is free. Before they start, this section will name the company that handles payment, sales tax and invoices, and the refund policy, and the app will ask you to accept the updated terms. Prices can change, but not for a license you've already bought.

15. No warranty

To the extent the law allows, the app is provided "as is" and "as available", without warranties of any kind, express or implied, including fitness for a particular purpose, merchantability, non-infringement, accuracy, and that it will be uninterrupted, secure or error-free. You're responsible for checking that the app suits your needs. If you're a consumer in a place whose law gives you rights that can't be excluded, those rights aren't affected.

16. Limits on our liability

To the extent the law allows:

• we're not liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential or punitive damages, or for lost profits, revenue, data, goodwill or business, even if we were told they might happen;
• our total liability for all claims about the app or these terms is limited to the amount you paid us for the app in the 12 months before the claim.

Some places don't allow these limits, so they may not all apply to you. Nothing in these terms limits liability that can't be limited by law, such as for fraud.

17. Your responsibility to us

You agree to defend and compensate us for claims by others (including your clients, and authorities) that arise from your use of the app, your content, your contracts and dealings with your clients, or your breaking of these terms or the law. We'll tell you about such a claim promptly and let you handle it.

18. Other terms

• Changes: we may update these terms. Changes apply to new major versions and new purchases, or when you accept them in the app. They don't take away rights you already bought.
• Feedback: if you send ideas, we may use them without owing you anything.
• Trademarks: buying a license doesn't give you rights to our names or logos.
• Export and sanctions: you may not use the app in breach of export control or sanctions laws.
• Assignment: you may transfer your license only with your whole business, and only if you tell us. We may transfer these terms to a successor.
• The whole agreement: these terms are the whole agreement about the app. If part of them can't be enforced, the rest still applies. Not enforcing a term isn't a waiver.
• Law and courts: the laws of the State of New Jersey, United States, govern these terms, and the state and federal courts located in New Jersey decide disputes, except where your local law gives you the right to go to your own courts.
• Contact: The Tiber House LLC, hello@aperhouse.com.