DMCCA Compliance for Seal Stores
Seal runs your subscription plans and billing. The UK DMCCA duties — renewal reminder notices, easy cancellation, dated compliance records — still sit with your store. Subnotice covers that layer alongside Seal, with nothing to configure in Seal itself.
Who is responsible for DMCCA compliance — you or Seal?
You. The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 places its subscription duties on the trader — the business selling the subscription — not on the app powering it. From the expected Spring 2027 enforcement date, UK subscription stores must:
- Send reminder notices before renewal payments are taken
- Make cancellation as easy as signing up
- State renewal terms clearly before purchase
- Honour cooling-off rights on signups and renewals
Seal gives you subscription plans, tiered discounts, and a customer portal. What it does not give you is a UK-specific compliance record: proof of what was sent, when, and what your policies said on any given date. That gap is what Subnotice fills. See the full UK subscription compliance checklist.
How Subnotice works alongside Seal
| Job | Seal | Subnotice |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription plans, discounts & customer portal | ✔ | — |
| DMCCA policy readiness score (0–100) with fix notes | — | ✔ |
| Pre-renewal reminder emails with a dated send log | partial (transactional notifications) | ✔ compliance-grade, logged per send |
| Dated policy exports for disputes and records | — | ✔ |
| Chargeback evidence packet (timeline + reminder log) | — | ✔ |
No code, no Seal configuration: Seal Subscriptions is built on Shopify's native subscription contracts, so the renewal dates Subnotice needs are already visible in Shopify. Subnotice installs from the App Store, scans your published policy pages, and starts logging from day one.
Why Seal merchants install this before 2027
The nearest-term payoff is not the regulation — it is disputes. Subscription chargebacks ("subscription cancelled", "recurring transaction not authorised") are won with a documented timeline: what the customer was told, when, and what your policies said at the time of the charge. A logged pre-renewal reminder is exactly that evidence. The chargeback guide covers what card issuers ask for.
Frequently asked questions
Does the DMCCA apply to my store if Seal handles my subscriptions?
Yes. The duties sit with the trader, not the subscription app. Seal manages plans and billing; the responsibility for reminders, records, and policy wording remains with your store.
Does Subnotice require a code integration with Seal?
No. Seal is built on Shopify's native subscription contracts, so Subnotice sees renewal dates out of the box. Install from the App Store — nothing to configure in Seal.
Seal already sends customer emails — why add Subnotice?
Seal's notifications are transactional. Subnotice adds the compliance layer: readiness score, logged reminder notices, and an exportable dated audit trail for disputes and records.
Scan your Seal store for free
Get your DMCCA readiness score in 30 seconds — policies scanned, gaps listed, fix notes included. Free, no card required.
Install free on Shopify →