A major subscription company agreed to pay $35 million after the FTC alleged unlawful subscription and cancellation practices. The case offers a useful lesson in what consumers should save before and after subscribing.
What Happened in the Shutterstock Case?
On May 13, 2026, the FTC announced that Shutterstock would pay $35 million to settle allegations involving its subscription and cancellation practices. The FTC alleged that Shutterstock charged consumers without their informed consent, failed to clearly disclose material terms, and made cancellation unnecessarily difficult.
This is an important distinction: these were FTC allegations resolved through a proposed settlement, not a court finding that every subscription practice described in the complaint was unlawful in every circumstance. The FTC's case page still lists the matter as pending and shows the complaint and joint motion filed on May 13, 2026.
The Alleged Disclosure Problem
According to the FTC's complaint, Shutterstock marketed some on-demand packs as suitable for a one-time project with "no commitment," while the FTC alleged that important automatic-renewal terms were not adequately disclosed. The complaint also alleged that important terms for certain annual paid-monthly plans, including automatic renewal and cancellation fees, were difficult to find.
The consumer lesson is straightforward: the headline offer is not the whole agreement. Before paying, identify the renewal mechanism, renewal date, price, commitment, and cancellation terms.
The Alleged Consent Problem
The FTC alleged that Shutterstock failed to obtain consumers' express informed consent before charging them for certain subscriptions and content packs. The proposed settlement would require Shutterstock to obtain express informed consent for charges covered by the order and to provide material subscription terms clearly.
For consumers, this reinforces a useful evidence habit: save the checkout screen, the order confirmation, and the terms you actually accepted.
The Alleged Cancellation Problem
The FTC alleged that Shutterstock did not provide simple cancellation mechanisms and that, before 2024, some consumers could not complete early cancellation online and instead had to contact customer support through phone, chat, or email.
Again, the lesson is not that every phone-based cancellation is automatically unlawful. The useful question is what the company represented, what the consumer was required to do, and whether the applicable law prohibited the resulting practice.
What Consumers Can Learn From the Case
- Read the renewal terms, not just the headline price.
- Capture the terms at checkout. Save PDFs, screenshots, and confirmations.
- Know the cancellation path before you subscribe.
- Track charges against the agreement.
- Document problems as they happen. Dates and evidence are more useful than memory.
What This Means for You
- Do not treat a settlement allegation as a universal legal rule.
- Use the Shutterstock complaint as a case study in disclosure, consent, and cancellation evidence.
- Keep the terms you accepted, especially where renewal or cancellation fees are involved.
- If you believe you were improperly charged, document the facts and pursue the appropriate merchant, payment-dispute, or regulatory channel.
Related Kibbo Tools
- Subscription Cancellation Checklist →
- Subscription Before You Buy Checklist →
- Service Complaint & Escalation Generator →
Sources
- Federal Trade Commission — Shutterstock to Pay $35 Million to Settle FTC Allegations Over Illegal Subscription and Cancellation Practices, May 13, 2026. ftc.gov
- Federal Trade Commission — Shutterstock, Inc. case page. ftc.gov
- Federal Trade Commission — Shutterstock timeline and case documents. ftc.gov