What is Exclusive license?

Exclusive, sole and non-exclusive

• Non-exclusive: the owner keeps ownership and can license the same rights to others (Copyright Alliance).
• Exclusive: only the licensee can exercise the licensed right, and that includes the licensor (CLIC).
• Sole: the owner licenses no one else but keeps its own right to use what is licensed. A Gordon Feinblatt article warns that “sole and exclusive” is ambiguous unless the contract defines it (Gordon Feinblatt).

In US copyright law, a “transfer of copyright ownership” includes an exclusive license but not a nonexclusive one (17 U.S.C. § 101). An exclusive licensee is treated as the owner of the rights it received and can sue infringers (Copyright Alliance).

Why it matters when you sell data

Exclusivity rules out every other buyer for the licensed rights, so it should be priced higher. WIPO’s licensing guidance says exclusivity “should be more expensive” and suggests limiting it by field or territory (WIPO). For a dataset, exclusivity can also be limited by time or to a named snapshot of data.

Before agreeing to exclusivity, check whether it would stop you using your own data internally, and how long it lasts. See the terms to check in an AI data license offer. This is general information, not legal advice; have counsel review any license.