If you believe your copyrighted work has been used without permission, Shutterstock provides a formal process for reporting and resolving infringement.
1. Submitting a DMCA Copyright Infringement Notice
To report unauthorized use of your content, you must submit a DMCA Copyright Infringement Notice.
You must either be the copyright holder or the legal representative of the copyright holder.
Your notice must include:
Identification of the work being infringed (links, image IDs).
Links or IDs of the infringing work.
Your complete contact information.
Send all required information to Shutterstock’s legal department:
infringementclaims@shutterstock.com
If your notice is not sent directly to infringementclaims@shutterstock.com, Shutterstock cannot guarantee that it will be handled promptly or appropriately.
2. Online DMCA submission form
You may also submit a DMCA complaint using Shutterstock’s online form:
Submit a DMCA complaintFor additional details on protecting your portfolio and reporting issues if you are not the copyright holder:
How do I protect the content in my portfolio?
3. Editorial images vs. copyright infringement
Contributors are allowed to sell images featuring people if the images are classified as Editorial.
Learn more:
Editorial images explainedIf the images in question are not Editorial, or if you find someone else selling your images, gather as much evidence as possible (links, IDs, examples) and email it to:
infringementclaims@shutterstock.comFull process guidance is available here:
How do I report copyright infringement?
4. Key points to remember
Only the copyright holder (or their legal representative) can submit a valid DMCA.
Always include full details (infringed work, infringing work, your contact info).
Notices should be sent to infringementclaims@shutterstock.com for proper handling.
In some cases, you may use the online DMCA form instead.
Editorial images are permitted, but misclassified or stolen content should be reported.