What an exclusivity clause covers
An exclusivity clause is the part of a creator agreement that stops the creator working with competing brands, or licensing the same content to anyone else, for a set period. It names the restricted category, the length of the restriction, and sometimes the platforms it covers. Because it limits the creator's other income, exclusivity is priced as a separate fee.
It is easy to confuse with the exclusivity variable inside usage rights. That variable controls whether the brand alone may use a specific piece of footage. An exclusivity clause reaches further, into the creator's future work: who else they may post for, film for, or appear alongside while the restriction runs.
When UGC deals need one
Most UGC deals need little or none of it. A creator making faceless product videos for your ads is rarely a risk to your brand if they also film for a rival next month, because viewers never connect the two. Exclusivity earns its cost when the creator's face and voice become linked to you, as with a brand ambassador or a hero testimonial running at scale.
When you do need it, define three things tightly: the category, by naming competitors or describing the product type narrowly; the term, starting from a fixed date; and the channels. Then pay for it explicitly, so nobody can later argue the restriction was never part of the price. The UGC contract template has a slot for each of those lines.
A worked example
Say a skincare brand books a creator for four videos at 300 dollars each and wants them off competing serum brands while the ads run. It asks for 90 days of exclusivity limited to facial serums, on paid and organic social. The creator quotes an extra 400 dollars for the restriction, reflecting the serum deals they expect to turn down.
The brand counters with 60 days, because its test plan only needs two months to find the winners, and they settle at 250 dollars. Both sides now know exactly what is off limits: moisturisers and cleansers stay open, serums do not, and the clock starts on the delivery date written in the agreement.
Common mistakes
Writing the category as broadly as possible. Most good creators will refuse a year away from all beauty brands, and those who accept may be the ones with no other work. Narrow scope gets a lower price and a better pool.
Forgetting to start and end the clock, or tying it to an event nobody records, like the day the last ad stops running. Use calendar dates. And check the creator's existing deals before signing, since a clause they are already breaching on day one protects nothing.
How it's used
Do we actually need exclusivity on these? They're hands-only demo videos, nobody will know it's the same person in a competitor's ad.
Exclusivity: creator will not make sponsored content for other facial serum brands from 1 November to 31 December, paid and organic social, for a fee of 250 dollars.