Anexclusive right, orexclusivity, is ade facto, non-tangibleprerogative existing in law (that is, the power or, in a wider sense,right) to perform an action or acquire a benefit and to permit or deny others the right to perform the same action or to acquire the same benefit. Exclusive rights are a form ofmonopoly.[1]
Exclusive rights can be established by law or by contractualobligation, but the scope of enforceability will depend upon the extent to which others are bound by the instrument establishing the exclusive right; thus in the case of contractual rights, only persons that are parties to a contract will be affected by the exclusivity.[2]
Exclusive rights may be granted inproperty law,copyright law,patent law, in relation topublic utilities, or, in some jurisdictions, in othersui generis legislation. Many scholars argue that such rights form the basis for the concepts ofproperty andownership.
Privately granted rights, created bycontract.Contract killing,[3] may occasionally appear very similar to exclusive rights, but are only enforceable against the grantee, and not the world at large.
A "prerogative" is in effect an exclusive right.[4] The term is restricted for use for official state or sovereign (i.e., constitutional) powers.
In relation toproperty, an exclusive right will, for the most part, arise when something tangible is acquired; as a result, others are prevented from exercising control of that thing. For example, a person may prohibit others from entering and using theirland, or from taking theirpersonal possessions. However, an exclusive right is not necessarily absolute, as aneasement may allow a certain level of public access toprivate property
An exclusivity agreement (also known as a lock-out agreement) may be entered into where two parties are planning the sale of a property but have not yet reached complete agreement or concluded a contract for the sale. The exclusivity agreement will prevent the proposed seller from negotiating a sale with any other potential purchaser for a fixed period of time.[5]
Most jurisdictions recognize abundle of exclusive rights in relation to works of authorship, inventions, and identifications of origin. These rights are sometimes spoken of under theumbrella term "intellectual property."
Incommon law jurisdictions, exclusive rights have often been the codification of pre-existingsocial norms with regard to land orchattels.
In the UK case ofRCS v Pollard [1983], Ch 135, a claim by the legal owners of an exclusive right in relation to the records of the singerElvis Presley against a seller ofunofficial recordings was lost because selling the unofficial recordings did not interfere with the Presley estate's liberty to exercise their exclusive right.[3]
Incontinental Europe there is a view that copyrights, patents, and the like are the codification of some kind ofmoral right,natural right, orpersonality right. However, such arguments can only be consistently justified throughinstrumentalism orconsequentialism, as exemplified by the reasoning inferred inArticle One of the United States Constitution that copyrights and patents exist solely "To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts".[6]