Shutterstock has agreed to pay $35 million to settle Federal Trade Commission allegations that the digital media platform utilized unfair and deceptive subscription, billing, and cancellation practices. The agency filed its complaint and a proposed stipulated final order in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York following a 2-0 Commission vote. The FTC charged the New York-based company with failing to disclose critical renewal terms, billing consumers without express informed consent, and purposefully complicating the subscription cancellation process since at least 2020.
The regulatory enforcement focuses on how Shutterstock structured its digital contracts and enrollment flows for its annual paid monthly subscriptions and on-demand content packs. According to the agency’s complaint, the platform advertised specific packages as having no long-term commitment while hiding automatic annual renewal terms and early cancellation fees in difficult-to-find fine print. Furthermore, the FTC highlighted that before 2024, the platform barred users from completing early cancellations online, forcing consumers into a time-consuming manual process involving telephone, chat, or email contact with customer support.
The $35 million financial penalty will fund full restitution for harmed consumers, and the court order institutes strict compliance mandates for the platform's future digital transaction architecture. The legal framework prohibits the company from misrepresenting material terms, requires explicit consent prior to billing credit cards, and mandates the maintenance of simple cancellation mechanisms for all negative option features. "When firms fail to follow these simple principles, they deprive consumers of the ability to make informed choices, undermining consumer sovereignty and impeding competition," stated Christopher Mufarrige, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection.
