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Shutterstock Reaches $35 Million FTC Settlement Over Subscription Billing Practices

By  |  May 13, 2026
FTC, price surveillance, retail prices

Shutterstock has agreed to pay $35 million to settle allegations from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission that the company used deceptive subscription and billing practices that left some customers unaware of renewal terms and facing difficulties when trying to cancel, according to Reuters.

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    The FTC said its investigation focused on how the stock media provider marketed annual subscriptions and content packages on its platform. Per Reuters, regulators alleged that some customers were not clearly informed that certain plans labeled as annual but billed monthly would automatically renew and could carry sizable cancellation penalties if ended early.

    According to Reuters, the agency also said consumers encountered a complicated cancellation process. The FTC alleged that some subscribers faced extended customer service wait times, multiple follow-up requirements through email, and several layers of online prompts before being able to complete a cancellation request.

    Related: DOJ Clears Getty Images–Shutterstock Merger Without Conditions

    The regulator further claimed that Shutterstock did not sufficiently explain renewal terms attached to its on-demand content packs. Per Reuters, those packages were marketed for limited or single-project use, but customers were allegedly not clearly told that the plans could renew after a year and replenish automatically once credits were exhausted.

    FTC consumer protection chief Christopher Mufarrige criticized the practices in a statement, saying that when companies hide critical contract terms, charge consumers without informed consent, and make cancellation unnecessarily difficult, “they deprive consumers of the ability to make informed choices, undermining consumer sovereignty and impeding competition.”

    The settlement does not include an admission of wrongdoing by Shutterstock. According to Reuters, the company had not publicly responded to requests for comment following the announcement.

    Shutterstock is also in the middle of a separate major corporate transaction. Per Reuters, the company agreed in early 2025 to combine with Getty Images in a deal that valued the businesses at roughly $3.7 billion at the time. That transaction is still undergoing regulatory review in both the United States and Europe.

    Source: Reuters