1. Introduction

Welcome to SongBase (“SongBase,” “we,” “our,” or “us”). These Terms of Service (“Terms”) govern your access to and use of the SongBase website, applications, platforms, services, content, tools, and features (the “Services”). By accessing or using the Services, you agree to be bound by these Terms. If you do not agree, you may not use the Services.

These Terms apply to all user types, including:

• Public (non-registered) users
• Free / Pay-As-You-Go (“PAYG”) users
• Individual subscribers
• Group subscription owners, managers, and seat members
• Institutional users accessing via Single Sign-On (“SSO”), including admins, teachers, and students

If you are accepting these Terms on behalf of an institution or organization, you represent that you have the authority to bind that organization.

2. Eligibility and Account Requirements

• Minimum Age. You must be at least 13 years old to use SongBase.
• Account Information. You agree to provide true, accurate, and current information and keep it updated.
• Account Security. You are responsible for safeguarding your login credentials and all activity occurring under your account.
• SSO Accounts. Institutional accounts are provisioned via SSO and managed by the institution. SongBase is not responsible for institutional identity or role assignment.
• Seat Invitations. Group subscription seat members must accept the usage tracking notice during enrollment.

3. Description of Services

SongBase provides tools and content for educational, linguistic, and artistic purposes, including:

• SongBase Catalog. A curated library of IPA transcriptions, translations (human and AI-generated), audio demos (human and TTS), metadata, and interactive transcripts.
• IPA Databases.
  • SB IPA Database: curated, human-created IPA owned by SongBase.
  • Custom IPA Databases: created exclusively by group owners/managers and institutional teachers.
• Translation Tools. Manual or AI-generated translations for catalog, forked, and custom works.
• Audio Tools. Human or TTS audio demos to accompany works.
• Forced Alignment & Transcripts. Timing metadata, segmentation, and interactive transcript behavior used for education and analysis.
• Custom & Forked Works. Tools to create new works or fork existing catalog items, subject to intellectual property rules in Section 4.
• IPA Exercises.
  • Any user may create IPA exercises for catalog or custom works.
  • Individual users may track their own progress.
  • Group owners/managers may track progress of seat holders.
  • Institutional teachers may track student progress, view submissions, and leave comments.
• Teacher & Group Tools. Content creation, notes, exercise lists, collaboration tools, and internal sharing features.

4. Ownership and Intellectual Property Rights

4.1 SongBase-Owned Intellectual Property

SongBase exclusively owns:

• All SB Catalog content (IPA, translations, audio demos, imagery, metadata)
• SB IPA Databases
• Forced alignment outputs, segmentation, transcript behavior, and metadata
• All platform code, data structures, UI/UX, schemas, and proprietary tools
• All SongBase branding and trademarks

No ownership rights are transferred to users.

4.2 User-Owned Intellectual Property

Users retain ownership of original content they create, including:

• Human translations for custom works or substantially modified forked works
• Custom IPA entries created entirely by the user
• Human audio recordings uploaded or recorded by the user
• Notes added to forked or custom works

However: Platform access to user-created content requires an active subscription. Ownership does not grant perpetual access to the SongBase platform.

4.3 Forked Works

Forking an SB Catalog work does not transfer ownership of SB’s content.

Ownership of forked works applies only if the user makes significant original contributions, such as:

• A fully new translation
• An entirely new IPA database for unsupported languages
• Meaningful structural or pedagogical additions

Minor or cosmetic edits do not confer ownership. SongBase determines whether a contribution qualifies as “substantial.”

4.4 License Granted to SongBase

By creating, uploading, or storing content through SongBase, you grant us a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to:

• Store, process, display, and transmit your content
• Make your content available to authorized users in the relevant group or institution
• Retain content as required for operational, archival, or institutional continuity
• Display teacher-created institutional materials even after teacher departure

This license ends when content is deleted (if deletion is permitted and applicable).

4.5 License Granted to Users

Users receive a limited, revocable license to:

• Access SB Catalog content while their subscription is active
• Access purchased PAYG works indefinitely (while SongBase remains in operation)

Users may not:

• Reverse engineer, scrape, or extract SB data
• Bypass access restrictions
• Repurpose SB content to train external AI models
• Redistribute SB content outside permitted contexts

5. Access Rights: Purchased, Subscription, and Custom Works

• Purchased PAYG Works. Lifetime access to the specific purchased work.
• Subscription Access. Access to SB Catalog and features continues only while subscription is active.
• Custom Works. User owns the content but access requires an active subscription.
• Institutional Access. Access is tied to both institutional subscription status and user SSO eligibility.

6. Content Creation, Notes, and Export Rules

6.1 Allowed Exports

• PDF/print exports of translations and IPA sheets
• PDF/print exports of SB Catalog works and custom works based on user permissions
• Export of custom IPA databases (group owners & institutional teachers only)

6.2 Prohibited Exports

Users may not export:

• SB IPA Database entries
• Machine-readable text of SB Catalog content
• Timing metadata or alignment data
• Any SB content intended to be accessed only through the SongBase interface

6.3 Notes

• Group owners/managers may add group-wide or seat-specific notes.
• Institutional teachers may add notes visible to authenticated institutional users with access.
• Notes cannot be publicly shared.
• Notes remain tied to institutional or group access rules.

7. Sharing and Distribution Restrictions

Users must not:

• Publicly post SB content or custom content derived from SB tools
• Share content with individuals who do not have licensed access
• Upload SB materials to public sites, LMS pages without authentication, social media, or shared drives
• Distribute SB content outside allowed print copies for licensed users

Academic Use Exception.

Publication in academic research or journals requires prior written permission from SongBase. Commercial publication is prohibited without permission.

8. AI & Automated Tools

• AI translations may contain inaccuracies; no warranty is provided.
• TTS outputs may contain spoken-language pronunciations rather than lyric diction.
• Users may not use any SongBase outputs to train external AI models.
• SongBase may use third-party AI providers (e.g., OpenAI), but user data is not used to train external models.

9. Credits

• Credits may be purchased or earned through referral programs.
• Credits are non-refundable and expire 12 months after purchase or award.
• Credits are deducted using a FIFO method.
• Credits cannot be transferred or exchanged for discounts.
• Institutional credits are available only to teachers.
• Credits remain available even after subscription expiration.

10. Group and Institutional Subscriptions

10.1 Group Subscriptions

• Group owners manage seat assignments and usage visibility settings.
• Seat members must accept usage tracking upon enrollment.
• Group owners/managers may view seat-level usage, exercise progress, and notes.
• Group owners/managers may create custom works, IPA databases, exercises, and notes.

10.2 Institutional Subscriptions

(a) Institutional Admins — Usage Visibility Only

Admins may:

• View institution-wide usage analytics
• Access high-level activity reporting

Admins may not:

• Assign or modify roles
• Create content
• Access individual student records
• Manage permissions or seats

(b) Institutional Teachers

Teachers may:

• Create custom works and fork SB Catalog works
• Create and export custom IPA databases
• Add notes visible within the institution
• Create IPA exercises and exercise lists
• View student progress on exercises and leave comments
• Share internal exercise links
• Collaborate with other teachers

Teacher-created works remain accessible to the institution after the teacher departs.

(c) Institutional Students

Students may:

• Access SB Catalog while actively affiliated
• Complete IPA exercises assigned by teachers
• Track their own exercise progress
• View notes on works they can access

Students cannot:

• Create custom works
• Create or export IPA databases
• Access internal teacher notes or dashboards

(d) Student Data Retention (Option A)

Student-created work is accessible only while the student maintains institutional affiliation.

When SSO access ends:

• Student access terminates immediately.
• Teachers no longer see student-specific data.
• SongBase may retain anonymized data for internal analytics only.

10.3 IP Recognition

SongBase may identify institutional IP ranges to prompt SSO login suggestions. IP recognition does not grant catalog access or authentication.

11. Prohibited Conduct

Users may not:

• Scrape, crawl, or harvest data
• Reverse engineer or attempt to bypass access controls
• Share login credentials
• Use SongBase to develop competing tools or datasets
• Train external AI models on SB content
• Tamper with usage tracking
• Access content belonging to other groups or institutions

12. Payment, Billing, and Cancellations

• Payments are processed exclusively through Stripe.
• Subscriptions renew automatically unless canceled.
• Users may view renewal dates and charges in account settings.
• Cancellation becomes effective at the end of the current billing cycle.
• No refunds for subscriptions, credits, or PAYG purchases.

13. Privacy & Data Use (Summary)

SongBase collects personal, usage, and analytics data as described in the Privacy Policy. This includes:

• Google Analytics (with anonymous tracking option)
• Custom internal analytics
• Third-party vendors (e.g., AWS, Cloudflare, Heroku, ZeptoMail, OpenAI, OAuth providers)

Inactive individual accounts (18 months) may be flagged for deletion. Institutional content is retained indefinitely for continuity. Full details are provided in the Privacy Policy.

14. LMS Use and Embedding

Institutions may embed SB content only:

• Behind authenticated LMS walls
• Without bypassing subscription or access controls
• Without public exposure of SB content or custom works

Public embedding is prohibited.

15. Termination and Suspension

SongBase may suspend or terminate accounts for:

• Violations of these Terms or the AUP
• Fraud, abuse, or unauthorized access
• Security concerns
• Institutional request

Upon termination:

• Subscription access ends
• PAYG works remain accessible
• Custom works remain stored but inaccessible without a subscription
• Institutional content remains tied to institutional access rules

16. Disclaimers and Limitation of Liability

The Services are provided “as is” without warranties of any kind. SongBase does not guarantee:

• Accuracy of translations or IPA
• Accuracy of TTS or AI outputs
• Platform uptime or uninterrupted service

To the maximum extent permitted by law, SongBase’s liability is limited to amounts paid by the user in the prior 12 months.

17. Governing Law and Dispute Resolution

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of North Carolina. Any disputes shall be resolved in the state or federal courts located in North Carolina.

18. Changes to Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time.

Material changes will be communicated via email or platform notice.

Continued use of the Services constitutes acceptance of the updated Terms.

19. Contact Information

For legal inquiries, permissions requests, or questions regarding these Terms:

• Email: [email protected]
• Address: 929 McKimmon Rd, Fayetteville, NC 28303 US