WASHINGTON, D.C. (July 9, 2025) – The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) celebrates a victory in the case Custom Communications, Inc. v. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) at the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. NFIB filed a legal challenge against the FTC’s Negative Option Rule, which targeted small businesses that engage in automatic renewals of subscriptions or memberships. Yesterday, the Court ruled in favor of small businesses and vacated the harmful rule.

“The FTC went far beyond their authority in enacting this rule,” said Beth Milito, Vice President and Executive Director of NFIB’s Small Business Legal Center. “NFIB is pleased that the Court recognized the procedural failures that took place in the rulemaking process and prevented this burdensome regulation from inflicting further damage on small businesses.”

NFIB’s petition argued that the FTC’s final rule was an attempt to regulate consumer contracts across all sectors of the economy, imposed onerous regulatory obligations on small businesses, and violated the Administrative Procedure Act.

The NFIB Small Business Legal Center protects the rights of small business owners in the nation’s courts. NFIB is currently active in more than 40 cases in federal and state courts across the country and in the U.S. Supreme Court.