Shutterstock's Terms and Conditions Explained

- The terms favor Shutterstock excessively, allowing unilateral changes to the Terms of Use without explicit user consent, only requiring continued use as acceptance
- Shutterstock can modify, replace, or disable the Site at any time for any reason, without notice, at its sole discretion, which creates uncertainty for users
- Users are prohibited from copying, republishing, embedding, linking, downloading, or creating derivative works from any Shutterstock Content without a separate license, which may be overly restrictive for legitimate uses like commentary or criticism
- The license granted by users for uploaded content is extremely broad, including rights to copy, transmit, distribute, and create derivative works, without specifying clear limitations or duration beyond removal
- Users cannot remove watermarks or copyright notices from Shutterstock Content, even if they have a license, which could interfere with legitimate use
- The trademark section restricts users from using any Shutterstock trademark or similar marks, even for non-commercial or descriptive purposes, such as in domain names or metatags
- Shutterstock can block, restrict, or terminate user access at any time, for any reason, without notice, providing no user recourse or appeal process
- The disclaimer of warranties is comprehensive, disclaiming all implied warranties like merchantability and fitness for a purpose, and limiting express warranties to 30 days after first use, which may be unenforceable in some jurisdictions
- The limitation of liability section disproportionately favors Shutterstock, including disclaimers for indirect damages and a 30-day cap on all warranties, potentially leaving users with no remedy for losses
- Users must indemnify Shutterstock for a wide range of claims, including those related to their conduct, use or non-use of the Site, or unauthorized use of Content, which shifts significant risk to users
- Disputes must be resolved through binding arbitration in New York, under American Arbitration Association rules, which may be financially and logistically burdensome for users, especially non-US residents
- The arbitration clause requires each party to bear its own costs, which could deter users from pursuing claims due to high legal expenses
- The governing law is New York state law, regardless of the user's location, which may not be beneficial or fair to international users or those in different jurisdictions
- The translation note states the non-English version is for informational purposes only and not legally binding, which could disadvantage non-English-speaking users who rely on translations
- The clause on user content representation and warranty requires users to guarantee they own all necessary rights and that Shutterstock owes no third-party fees, which could be very difficult for users to verify, especially for content like music or video clips
- The prohibition on using Shutterstock Content without a license applies to watermarked or unlicensed content, but also implies that even viewing or displaying such content could constitute copyright infringement, which may not align with fair use principles
- The restriction against creating direct links to the Shutterstock Site without written consent limits sharing and referencing, potentially harming user freedom and website functionality
- There is no guarantee that user content will remain available through the Site or be stored, yet the license for archival purposes remains valid indefinitely, creating a potential imbalance