Shutterstock will pay $35 million to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that it illegally billed customers, buried cancellation fees, and - until early 2024 - required people to call or chat with customer service just to cancel a subscription.
The FTC filed its complaint in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. The settlement was announced May 13.
What Shutterstock Did
The FTC's complaint focuses on three specific behaviors:
Auto-renewals buried in fine print. Shutterstock sold "on-demand packs" - one-time content bundles marketed as having "no commitment." What they didn't clearly disclose: the packs automatically renewed when the last download was used, and also renewed automatically every year. Customers were charged again without being clearly told they would be.
Cancellation fees that weren't disclosed upfront. Annual monthly-payment plans (what Shutterstock called "APM" plans) came with a fee to cancel early. According to the FTC, the plan selection page frequently failed to clearly state that these fees existed, how much they were, or when they applied. The details were buried in fine print on a separate page.
No way to cancel online. Until early 2024, customers who wanted to cancel early couldn't do it on the website. They had to contact customer support by phone, chat, or email - a process the FTC described as "complicated and time-consuming." That's a deliberate friction point designed to make cancellation harder than it should be.
What the Settlement Requires
The $35 million will be used for refunds to affected customers. Shutterstock is also prohibited from:
- Misrepresenting the terms of its subscriptions
- Charging customers without getting clear, informed consent first
- Maintaining anything other than a simple, online cancellation path
Why This Matters If You Run a Small Business
Two reasons.
First, you may be a Shutterstock customer. Plenty of small businesses use Shutterstock for images, video, or design assets. If you've been charged in ways you didn't expect, watch for refund communications.
Second, this is the FTC's clearest recent statement about what it considers illegal subscription behavior. The three practices outlined in the complaint - hidden auto-renewals, buried cancellation fees, phone-only cancellation - are not unique to Shutterstock. They're common across software and media subscriptions.
If you're building a subscription offering, or if you use services with these patterns, this settlement is worth reading as a checklist of what the FTC has now said, explicitly, is illegal.
The Practical Test
Ask yourself about any subscription you pay for: Do I know when it renews? Do I know what it costs to cancel early? Can I cancel in two clicks on the website?
If the answer to any of those is no - that's the pattern the FTC is targeting.
Source: Federal Trade Commission, "Shutterstock to Pay $35 Million to Settle FTC Allegations Over Illegal Subscription and Cancellation Practices," May 13, 2026.