On May 13, 2026, the Federal Trade Commission filed a civil complaint against Shutterstock, Inc. alleging violations of Section 5 of the FTC Act and the Restore Online Shoppers' Confidence Act (ROSCA) arising from the company's subscription enrollment, disclosure, and cancellation practices. Notably, the parties reached an agreement in principle to resolve the matter the same day the complaint was filed. The compressed timeline underscores how prepared the Commission was to act and how quickly subscription-focused investigations can move from inquiry to public enforcement.
The Shutterstock action is a clear signal that negative-option marketing and cancellation friction remain front-and-center enforcement priorities for the FTC. While the Commission has recently scaled back broader rulemaking efforts touching subscription practices, this matter confirms that case-by-case enforcement under existing authorities is alive and well. Companies that may have viewed regulatory pullback as a reason to deprioritize subscription compliance should reconsider: the FTC is plainly willing to deploy ROSCA and Section 5 to address perceived consumer harms in this space, regardless of the status of any particular rulemaking.
For subscription-based businesses, the practical takeaway is to revisit the full customer lifecycle with ROSCA's core requirements in mind. That means ensuring all material terms of an offer—including recurring charges, billing frequency, and any automatic renewal provisions—are clearly and conspicuously disclosed before a consumer is asked to pay. Businesses should confirm that they obtain express informed consent prior to charging, and that the consent flow is not undermined by visual hierarchy, pre-checked boxes, or buried terms. Cancellation pathways warrant particularly close scrutiny: ROSCA requires simple mechanisms to stop recurring charges, and the FTC has shown little patience for processes that introduce unnecessary steps, retention pop-ups, or channel mismatches between sign-up and cancellation.
The Shutterstock matter is a useful prompt for legal, compliance, marketing, and product teams to align on a coordinated review of enrollment screens, consent mechanics, billing communications, and cancellation experiences. Documenting that review, and remediating identified gaps promptly, can meaningfully reduce exposure to similar FTC actions.
This article is provided for general informational purposes only. Clients with subscription offerings should seek tailored legal advice regarding their specific practices and compliance posture.