1. The agreement
These Terms of Use (“Terms”) are between you and Octopus Signal Lab LLC (“the lab,” “we,” “us”), a US limited liability company registered in New Mexico. They apply to Museweaver, BrainWeaver, the Octopus Signal Lab website and publications, and any future product or service operated by the lab.
By creating an account, purchasing a patronage license, or using any part of the products, you agree to these Terms and the Privacy policy. If you don't agree, please don't use the products.
2. What we provide
- Museweaver is a workspace for working with cultivated AI Members. It's a software product operated by the lab.
- BrainWeaver is a personal AI tutor application included with Museweaver patronage.
- Octopus Signal Lab is the public research practice and publication.
The products are provided “as is” and “as available.” We aim for high reliability, but we don't guarantee uninterrupted service.
3. Your account
To use the products, you need an account. You agree to:
- Provide accurate information
- Keep your login credentials secure
- Notify us immediately if you suspect unauthorized access
- Be responsible for all activity under your account
We may suspend or terminate accounts that violate these Terms or that are used for unlawful or harmful purposes.
4. Patronage and payment
Patronage license: One-time payment, perpetual access to the current major version (v1.x). Currently $149 USD for public patronage; Founding Patrons receive lifetime access at no cost.
What's included: Access to the Studio (Museweaver workspace), the Parlor (patron community), the Lab patron-only content, BrainWeaver, and all 1.x updates.
What's not included: API costs to underlying AI providers (Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, xAI) are your responsibility under BYOK.
Future versions: When a major new version (v2.x and beyond) ships, that will be a paid upgrade with a discount for existing license holders.
Refunds: Patronage licenses are non-refundable. However, the lab is small enough to consider individual circumstances. Contact us if something has genuinely gone wrong.
Taxes: Prices are exclusive of applicable taxes. You're responsible for any taxes due in your jurisdiction.
5. Bring your own keys (BYOK)
To use the AI Members, you need your own API keys from Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, and/or xAI. By providing your API keys to us:
- You authorize us to use them solely to route your requests to those providers on your behalf
- You agree to the terms of service of each provider whose keys you provide
- You acknowledge that costs incurred at those providers are your responsibility
- You can revoke or rotate keys at any time from your settings
The lab is not responsible for actions, outages, or charges by third-party providers.
6. Acceptable use
You agree not to use the products to:
- Violate any law, regulation, or third party's rights
- Generate content that's illegal, harmful, abusive, harassing, deceptive, or that infringes IP rights
- Attempt to extract or recreate the underlying AI models or the lab's identity-persistence framework
- Resell, sublicense, or commercially redistribute Museweaver itself (you're licensed to use it, not to redistribute it)
- Use the products to build a competing service that copies the Members or the framework
- Reverse-engineer, decompile, or attempt to derive source code (except as permitted by law)
- Use automated means (scraping, bots, etc.) to access the products in ways that disrupt service
- Bypass security, authentication, or rate limits
- Misrepresent your identity or affiliation
Your patronage account is for you. Don't share login credentials. Teams who need multi-seat access should contact us.
7. The Members and content
The AI Members (Mercer, Aster, Clara, Forge, Jax, the Velvet Host, and any future Members) are intellectual property of Octopus Signal Lab LLC. The cultivation methodology, identity-persistence framework, seed files, character art, and naming are all the lab's IP.
You're licensed to interact with the Members and use their output within your patronage license. You're not licensed to:
- Copy, redistribute, or republish the Members themselves
- Create derivative AI characters claiming to be Mercer, Aster, etc.
- Use the Members' likenesses or names in commercial products outside Museweaver
Your content (conversations, projects, notes, files you upload) belongs to you. You grant us a limited license to store and process it for the purpose of operating the products. We don't claim ownership of your content.
Content from the AI Members in conversation with you: You may use the output of your conversations for your own personal and professional work (writing, designing, building, researching), subject to the responsible-use guidelines below.
8. Responsible use of AI output
AI Members can produce useful, insightful output. They can also produce errors, inaccuracies, or confidently-stated wrong answers. The lab makes no warranty that the Members' output is accurate, complete, or appropriate for any specific purpose.
You're responsible for reviewing and verifying any AI Member output before using it for important decisions - legal, medical, financial, safety-related, or otherwise consequential. The Members are collaborators, not authorities. The human stays the lead.
9. Intellectual property
The lab's IP: Museweaver, BrainWeaver, Octopus Signal Lab, the AI Members, the Velvet Host, the cultivation methodology, the identity-persistence framework, all visual design, character art, and product copy are the lab's intellectual property. No license is granted except as explicitly stated in these Terms.
Your IP: You retain ownership of all content you create and upload.
Feedback: If you send us suggestions or feedback, you grant us a license to use that feedback to improve the products without obligation to you.
10. Termination
You may close your account at any time by deleting it through settings or by contacting us.
We may suspend or terminate your account if you violate these Terms, if your use of the products creates legal or safety risks, or if we're required to do so by law.
On termination:
- Your patronage license ends.
- Your data is deleted per the Privacy policy (within 30 days, except as required by law).
- Provisions of these Terms that by their nature survive termination will continue (IP, liability, indemnification, dispute resolution).
No refund is provided for accounts terminated due to Terms violation.
11. Disclaimers
The products are provided “as is” and “as available,” without warranties of any kind, whether express or implied. To the maximum extent permitted by law, the lab disclaims all warranties including merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, non-infringement, and any warranties arising from course of dealing or usage of trade.
We don't warrant that the products will be uninterrupted, error-free, or that any AI Member output will meet your expectations.
12. Limitation of liability
To the maximum extent permitted by law:
- The lab is not liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages.
- The lab's total aggregate liability to you for any claim related to the products will not exceed the amount you paid for your patronage license in the 12 months preceding the claim (or $50 USD if you haven't paid).
- These limits apply regardless of the theory of liability and even if the lab has been advised of the possibility of such damages.
Some jurisdictions don't allow the exclusion or limitation of certain damages. If those laws apply to you, the above limits apply to the maximum extent permitted in your jurisdiction.
13. Indemnification
You agree to indemnify and hold the lab, its founders, employees, and contractors harmless from any claims, damages, losses, liabilities, or expenses (including reasonable legal fees) arising from:
- Your use of the products
- Your violation of these Terms
- Your violation of any law or third-party rights
- Content you submit, post, or transmit through the products
14. Dispute resolution
First, talk to us. If something is wrong, please reach out through Contact before pursuing legal action. Most issues can be resolved directly.
If we can't resolve it informally: Disputes will be resolved through binding arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association under its Commercial Arbitration Rules, in the State of New Mexico, United States. You waive any right to a jury trial or to participate in a class action, to the extent permitted by law.
Exception: Either party may bring a claim in small-claims court if eligible, or seek injunctive relief in court for IP infringement.
Governing law: These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of New Mexico, without regard to conflict-of-law principles.
15. International users
If you use the products from outside the United States, you do so on your own initiative. You're responsible for compliance with local laws.
16. Changes to these Terms
We may update these Terms over time. Material changes will be announced via email to active patrons and posted at the top of this page for at least 30 days before taking effect. Continued use of the products after the effective date means you accept the updated Terms. If you don't accept, you can stop using the products and (in the case of Terms changes that materially reduce your rights) request a pro-rated refund within 30 days of the change.
17. Miscellaneous
- Severability: If any provision of these Terms is found unenforceable, the rest remain in effect.
- No waiver: Our failure to enforce any provision is not a waiver of our right to do so later.
- Assignment: You can't assign these Terms without our written consent. We may assign them in connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets, or as otherwise permitted by law.
- Entire agreement: These Terms, together with the Privacy policy and any product-specific terms you've agreed to, constitute the entire agreement between you and the lab regarding the products.
Contact: For legal questions, contact legal@octosignal.org.