A brand exclusivity clause stops you promoting competing products for a set period, so before signing pin down five things: exactly how the restricted category is defined, whether competitors are named in a list, how long the restriction runs after the campaign ends, which platforms and countries it covers, and whether the deals you already have are carved out. You can work with several brands at once unless a contract you signed says otherwise, and exclusivity you do agree to should be narrow, time-limited and priced as its own line.
What an exclusivity clause can restrict
The word covers several different restrictions, so read what the clause actually forbids. The common shapes are:
- Named-competitor exclusivity: no paid work for the specific brands listed in a schedule. The narrowest and easiest to live with.
- Category exclusivity: no paid work for any brand in a defined product category, which is only as narrow as the definition.
- Full exclusivity: no other sponsors of any kind for the term, which turns a campaign into something close to a retainer.
- Proximity limits: no competitor products shown in the same post, video or livestream as the brand.
- First refusal: you may work with competitors, but must offer the brand the chance to match first.
Do not confuse any of these with an exclusive licence, which concerns who may use your content rather than who you may work for. Arts Law's copyright licensing explanatory notes explain that under an exclusive licence you cannot use the work yourself or license it to anyone else. A contract can contain both, and each deserves its own fee.
Management exclusivity is different again: it decides who may represent you, not which brands you may promote, and it is covered in the influencer manager contract checklist.
Can you work with multiple brands at once?
Yes, unless a signed contract restricts you. What changes with several sponsors is disclosure. The CMA's guide for content creators says to be clear which brands you are advertising for in a post. The FTC's Endorsement Guides FAQ warns that simply flagging that a video contains paid content may not be enough when it mentions several products without saying which one is paid.
The same FAQ says that if you criticise a competitor of a brand you are paid to endorse, you should disclose the paid relationship, because it affects how much weight your audience gives the criticism. Competitor comparisons therefore need the same labelling care as the sponsored post itself, whether or not your contract includes exclusivity. For the platform side of labelling, see our walkthroughs of the Instagram paid partnership label and TikTok paid partnership disclosure.
Exclusivity scoping worksheet
Fill in each row from the brand's draft. Where the draft matches the red flag, propose the narrow version instead.
| Field | Narrow version to propose | Red flag in the draft |
|---|---|---|
| Category definition | The specific product type in plain words, matching what the campaign promotes | A sector label such as wellness or beauty, or anything the brand's group sells now or later |
| Named competitors | A schedule listing the competing brands by name | “Any competitor” with no list, decided by the brand at the time |
| Start and end | Fixed calendar dates, ending a short, stated period after the last post | Linked to the usage licence, renewing automatically or open-ended |
| Platforms | Only the platforms where the brand's content runs | All media, online and offline, now known or later devised |
| Territory | The countries the campaign targets | Worldwide for a campaign aimed at one market |
| Activities caught | Paid partnerships for listed competitors only | Also catches unpaid mentions, honest reviews, affiliate links or accepting gifts |
| Existing deals | A schedule of current partnerships, all excluded until their own end dates | Existing deals must end, or old posts must come down, on signing |
| Fee | A separate exclusivity line on the quote and the invoice | Exclusivity described as included in the content fee |
| Breach remedy | Written notice and a period to remove the conflicting post | Repayment of the whole fee, or a fixed penalty sum, for any breach |
| Early release | The restriction ends if the brand cancels, fails to pay or ends the campaign early | You stay bound even after the brand terminates |
The full sponsorship agreement around this clause, including payment, termination and morality terms, is laid out in the influencer contract template.
Pricing exclusivity without guessing
Exclusivity is payment for income you agree not to earn, so price it from your own records rather than a rule of thumb. This page gives no rates; the inputs are yours.
- From your tracker, count the paid deals you closed in the restricted category over a past period the same length as the proposed term: [deals in category].
- Work out your typical fee for those deals: [typical category fee].
- Multiply the two for the income you would expect to forgo: [deals in category] times [typical category fee] equals [forgone income].
- Add anything already in your pipeline for that category that you would have to decline: [pipeline at risk].
- Quote an exclusivity fee no lower than [forgone income] plus [pipeline at risk], and scale it up as the category widens or the term lengthens.
If the brand balks at the number, the cheapest concession is usually a narrower category or a shorter term rather than a smaller fee for the same restriction; the trades are set out in how to negotiate brand deals. Arts Law's licensing notes make the same point for content rights: a higher fee is usually payable for an exclusive licence, because you give up more.
Sometimes the right answer is no. Decline exclusivity, or offer the deal without it, when the restricted category is where most of your sponsorship income comes from, when the brand will not name its competitors, when the fee would not cover what you expect to give up, or when the offer is gifted product only. A brand that genuinely needs exclusivity can pay for it; one that only asks for it by default may settle for a named-competitor list covering the campaign window.
Conflict audit of your current deals
Run this before agreeing to any new exclusivity, and again before accepting any new brief while an exclusivity window is open.
- Filter your brand deal tracker for every deal that is active, scheduled, or paid but still inside a usage or exclusivity window.
- For each one, write down its category, any competitor list, and the end dates for exclusivity and usage.
- Add ongoing relationships that are not in a contract: ambassador arrangements, affiliate links and discount codes still live, and brands that send you product regularly.
- Compare every entry with the new brand's category definition and named competitors, and mark any overlap.
- Check whether the new draft would force you to remove past posts or end a live affiliate link, and push back if so.
- Tell the new brand about any overlap before you sign and list your existing partnerships in a schedule to the contract.
- Once signed, enter the new exclusivity window and set a reminder for its end date.
Past relationships still matter for labelling. TikTok's Branded Content Policy counts content that references a brand you have or have had a commercial relationship with, such as an ambassadorship, as branded content, so a former sponsor can still require a label even after your exclusivity with it ends.
Wording swaps for broad clauses
A precise version of what the brand asked for is easier for it to accept, because precision also helps its legal team. When a draft is wide, offer a replacement rather than a refusal:
- Instead of “competing products”, propose “paid partnerships with the brands listed in Schedule A”, and offer to add names the brand reasonably requests before signing.
- Instead of “during the term of this agreement and any renewal”, propose fixed start and end dates written as calendar dates.
- Instead of “on any channel”, propose the platforms named in the deliverables clause.
- Instead of “the creator will not feature, mention or endorse”, propose “the creator will not publish paid or gifted content for”, so honest, unpaid mentions in passing are not a breach.
- Instead of “any breach entitles the brand to a full refund”, propose written notice, a short period to remove the conflicting post and a remedy in proportion to the harm.
- Instead of silence on what happens if the campaign is cancelled, propose that exclusivity ends automatically when the brand cancels or misses a payment.
Long-term ambassador deals deserve one more safeguard: a review point. If the restriction runs for months, ask for a monthly exclusivity fee rather than a single upfront figure, a release if the brand stops commissioning content, and a date on which both sides confirm the category definition still fits what the brand sells. Product ranges change, and a definition that was narrow at signing can quietly widen when the brand launches a new line.
Legal backstops in Australia
The ACCC's contracts guidance explains that unfair contract terms protections cover small businesses in standard form contracts, and gives as examples of potentially unfair terms ones that penalise one party but not the other for breaching or ending the contract, or that let only one party end it. An exclusivity clause that binds you after the brand walks away, or punishes any slip with full repayment, is worth questioning on that basis. The ACCC suggests first asking the business to remove or change the term. Outside Australia, the law on restrictive clauses differs, so take local advice on anything broad or long.
Limitations
The worksheet and pricing method help you scope and value a restriction; they do not tell you whether a particular clause is enforceable, which depends on its wording, the governing law and the circumstances. Your own deal history may be too thin to price from, in which case treat the result as a floor rather than a figure. This is general information, not legal advice; for long or wide exclusivity, or a clause tied to large penalties, have a lawyer review the draft before you sign.