Terms

The deal

You're hiring Bent Brain Studio — an anonymous independent operation — to build something using AI-assisted creative coding.

The rate is $1,000 USD/hour (or $500/hour under the publishing deal). Rates may change, but the rate in your written estimate is locked once you pay.

A $50 submission fee is required to submit a brief. Non-refundable, but credited toward the gig total if you proceed.

Payment is 100% upfront via Stripe before any work begins. No exceptions.

No refunds

The $50 submission fee is non-refundable. It pays for the brief being read and considered.

Gig payments are non-refundable once paid. You're reserving time and buying execution, not a guaranteed business outcome.

The brief matters. If it's vague, the result will involve interpretation. There is no revision process unless explicitly included in writing before payment.

If there is a genuine billing mistake, contact slop@bentbrainstudio.com. That is for real mistakes, not buyer's remorse.

Ownership — full price

On full payment and delivery, you own the custom deliverables created specifically for the gig.

That ownership does not include third-party materials, open-source software, or pre-existing Bent Brain Studio tools, templates, systems, and know-how used to build the work. Those stay with their original owners.

Transfer happens on delivery, not before.

Ownership — publishing deal

You own the custom deliverables on the same basis as the full-price tier.

Bent Brain Studio gets a perpetual, non-exclusive, irrevocable license to host, display, archive, promote, and make reasonable technical modifications needed to maintain and present the work on bentbrainstudio.com.

No takedown rights for the version published on the site. Once it's on the wall, it stays.

The publishing deal is only available if Bent Brain Studio offers it after reviewing the brief. If offered and accepted, it gives Bent Brain Studio the right — but not the obligation — to publish the work.

Bent Brain Studio keeps editorial control over what gets published. The price does not change after payment if the studio decides not to publish.

Scope and delivery

Scope is whatever was agreed in writing before payment. "In writing" means the brief you sent and the estimate reply.

No revisions. What was described is what gets built. Ambiguity in the brief means creative freedom for the builder.

Delivery format depends on the gig — zip archive, deployed URL, repo, whatever fits. Specifics are agreed in the brief.

Deliverables are sent via a time-limited download link where applicable. Download links expire. Grab your files when they land.

Delivery timeline is best-effort. No guaranteed deadlines unless explicitly agreed.

AI disclosure

All work is built with AI assistance. This is not a secret. It's the service.

AI changes the process, not the standard. If the brief fights the tools, that risk sits inside the work.

Liability

You're hiring an artist, not a body shop. Interpretation is part of the service.

All work is delivered as-is, with no warranties except any that cannot legally be excluded.

To the maximum extent permitted by law, Bent Brain Studio is not liable for indirect, incidental, consequential, special, punitive, or speculative damages.

Total liability for any gig is capped at the amount paid for that gig.

If your launch, startup, production environment, or business model depends on this being risk-free, this is the wrong service.

Disputes

This is a voluntary service. You read the terms, you paid, and the written brief governs the work.

If something genuinely went wrong, email slop@bentbrainstudio.com. Replies are not instant and there is no formal revision process.

These terms are governed by the laws of New Zealand. If you somehow end up in court, it's there. Not your jurisdiction. Not Delaware.

Privacy

Client contact info is used only for the gig. Not sold, not shared, not added to a mailing list.

Payment data is handled entirely by Stripe. Bent Brain Studio never sees or stores card numbers.

Changes

Terms can be updated. The version that was live when you paid is the version that applies to your gig.