Here’s some context. Shutterstock acquired TurboSquid in 2021 and then introduced the Contributor Fund, which used artists’ assets to train AI, with an opt-out option added later.
It is estimated that Shutterstock paid over $4 million to contributors in 2023, with average revenue from the fund around $0.0078 per image. The last payment was made in November 2024. Since then, artists haven’t received anything, even though Shutterstock promised to pay in Q2 2026, which has already ended.
The deals are a mysterious business: the company doesn’t reveal what assets were sold, when, to whom, and for how much.
The anger is further fueled by Shutterstock’s silence and the lack of a response on when the next payment will be sent. Only one community manager is replying in the forum, and he claims he doesn’t know anything.
