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Chapter II · Guide

AI Narration Policy Changelog

A dated log of the retailer AI narration rules we read. Baseline of 8 November 2026, dates the retailers published, and the planned monthly re-read.

Last reviewed 7 primary sources 2 min read Based on published sources

7 primary sources, each with its read date

Compare your optionsWhich Retailers Accept AI-Narrated Audiobooks

This log has one entry of our own so far: the baseline read of 8 November 2026. We have not observed any retailer change a rule, so there are no diffs to report, and we will not invent any. Dates the retailers themselves published are listed separately and labelled as theirs.

How this page was researched

this page is based on published retailer pages as of 2026-11-08. We have not yet run our own monthly re-read, so there is nothing to compare against. See how we research.

Baseline: 2026-11-08

On this date we read the pages behind the retailer comparison and the policy matrix:

  • ACX: audio submission requirements, Conditions of Use and content acceptance guidelines.
  • KDP: virtual voice help pages and AI content guidelines.
  • Spotify for Authors: digital voice narration article, Creation Tools pages and the Aug 1, 2025 direct-publishing post.
  • Voices by INaudio: Digital Voice Narration FAQ (read twice) and home page.
  • Kobo Writing Life: audiobook FAQ, captured once. A follow-up read and the linked AI narration article returned HTTP 403.
  • Google Play Books: auto-narrated audiobooks policy and related Partner Center pages.
  • Apple Books: digital narration pages, the Audiobooks Formatting Guidelines and most of the Audiobooks Specification.
  • Draft2Digital: content guidelines.
  • Libro.fm: the Feb 18, 2026 post.
  • OverDrive: Responsible AI policy.

Rules as read are in the comparison table. This entry records that they were read on this date, not that anything changed.

Dates published by the retailers

These are dates shown on the sources, not changes we observed.

Date on sourceSourceWhat the source shows
Jan 9, 2025OverDriveResponsible AI policy last-updated date.
Feb 20, 2025SpotifyAnnouncement that Spotify began accepting ElevenLabs-narrated audiobooks.
Aug 1, 2025Spotify for AuthorsAnnouncement of direct audiobook publishing.
Oct 27, 2025Draft2DigitalDate on its content guidelines.
Feb 18, 2026Libro.fmPost on its response to AI narration.
Apr 15, 2026ACXDate on the audio submission requirements page.
May 26, 2026ACXStart of ACX's new royalty model for newly claimed titles, new users and enrolled titles. ACX says the legacy model ends at year-end 2026.
Jul 31, 2026ACXDate on the how royalties work page.
Oct 21, 2026ACX; KDPDates on ACX's choose a distribution option page and KDP's Virtual Voice terms page.

Pages that show no date

Several rule pages carry no last-updated date, so a change would not show on the page itself. These are on our watch list for the monthly re-read: Spotify's digital voice narration article, the Voices by INaudio Digital Voice Narration FAQ (marked "Edited" only), Kobo's audiobook FAQ, Google's auto-narrated audiobooks policy, Apple's digital narration pages, and KDP's virtual voice eligibility and pricing pages (the terms page is dated Oct 21, 2026).

Planned cadence

We plan to re-read each linked page monthly and add an entry here when its wording differs from the baseline, with the old and new text. That is a plan, not a record. The first scheduled re-read is not yet done.

If you see a rule that differs from what we show, check the retailer's page first, then tell us through the site's corrections process. The AI narration rules hub lists every page this log covers.

This is general information, not legal advice.

Last verified 2026-11-08. Rules and prices change: check the linked primary page before you rely on this.

Sources

  1. ACX: Audio submission requirements Primary read
  2. ACX: How royalties work Primary read
  3. Spotify newsroom: ElevenLabs audiobook support (Feb 20, 2025) Primary read
  4. Spotify for Authors: Direct audiobook publishing (Aug 1, 2025) Primary read
  5. Libro.fm: An update on our response to AI narration Primary read
  6. OverDrive: Responsible AI policy Primary read
  7. Draft2Digital content guidelines Primary read