ImportMaster at 01:53, 27 January 2022

2022-01-27T01:53:13Z

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[[Bikram Choudhury]] made a series of claims that his [[modern yoga|yoga]] practice, [[Bikram Yoga]], was under [[copyright]] and that it could not be taught or presented by anyone whom he had not authorized, starting in 2002. In 2011 Choudhury started a lawsuit against [[Yoga to the People]], a competing yoga studio founded by a former student of Bikram's and with a location near one of the Bikram Yoga studios in New York. As a result of that lawsuit, the [[United States Copyright Office]] issued a clarification that yoga postures (''[[asanas]]'') could not be copyrighted in the way claimed by Bikram, and that Yoga to the People and others could continue to freely teach these exercises. In 2015, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court ruling that the Bikram Yoga Sequence was not copyrightable subject matter.

==Background==
[[File:Bikram teaching.jpg|thumb|[[Bikram Choudhury]] leading a class of [[Bikram yoga]] at the L.A. Convention Center in 2003.]]

Bikram Choudhury goes by his first name, "Bikram".<ref name="Economist 2002">{{cite web |url= http://www.economist.com/node/2765973 |title=Face value: The litigious yogi |last=staff |work=The Economist |date=17 June 2004 |accessdate=23 February 2015}}</ref> He is most known in popular culture for [[mass marketing]] his [[modern yoga|yoga]] practice into a [[franchising]] system of 900 yoga studios as of 2004.<ref name="Economist 2002"/> He insists that classes be taught in these studios in a certain way, and that they taught a series of 26 [[asana|yoga postures]].<ref name="Economist 2002"/> Starting in 2002, he began having his lawyers send out [[cease and desist]] letters to any yoga studio which presented his Bikram Yoga sequences without his authorization.<ref name="Economist 2002"/>

In the United States, Choudhury has claimed, and been aggressive in threatening suit over, broad copyrights in most aspects of the practice, teaching, and business of the system. He extracted settlements from a number of yoga teachers and studios.<ref name=Forbes>{{cite news |url=https://www.forbes.com/forbes/2009/0921/entrepreneurs-franchising-bikram-yoga-new-twists.html | title=Bikram Yoga's New Twists | last=Farrell |first=Maureen |date=September 3, 2009 |work=Forbes.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.baddogtales.com/yogainc.html |title=Yoga, Inc. |publisher=Bad Dog Tales |access-date=2015-02-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150206074449/http://baddogtales.com/yogainc.html |archive-date=2015-02-06 |url-status=dead }}</ref> However, in 2012, the US Copyright Office concluded that copyright for Bikram's sequence of 26 postures had been issued in error.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.copyright.gov/fedreg/2012/77fr37605.pdf| title=Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 121 / Friday, June 22, 2012 / Rules and Regulations| accessdate=9 February 2013 | publisher=U. S. Government Printing Office}}</ref> This led a federal district court, and later the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, to reject Choudhury's claims and rule that the sequence of postures was not copyrightable.

==Bikram Yoga versus Yoga to the People==
{{anchor|Yoga to the People}}
Yoga to the People was a yoga studio established by one of [[Bikram Choudhury]]'s former work associates. It aimed to make yoga available to all, regardless of ability to pay.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.elephantjournal.com/2010/02/yoga-to-the-people-in-new-york-city-aka-yoga-with-a-lot-of-people/ |title=Yoga To The People in New York City (aka Yoga With A Lot of People) |first=Rachel |last=Steele |publisher=Elephant Journal |date=11 February 2010 |accessdate=20 February 2015}}</ref> After Yoga to the People opened a yoga studio near a [[Bikram Yoga]] studio, Bikram started a lawsuit to have them cease presenting Bikram Yoga sequences at their studio.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2012/02/06/steamed |title=Steamed |first=Ben |last=McGrath |work=[[The New Yorker]] |date=6 February 2012 |accessdate=23 February 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20111130/lower-east-side-east-village/bikram-originator-sues-yoga-people-for-stealing-poses |title=Bikram Originator Sues Yoga to the People for 'Stealing' Poses - East Village & Lower East Side |first=Serena |last=Solomon |work=dnainfo.com |date=30 November 2011 |accessdate=23 February 2015 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150223151026/http://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20111130/lower-east-side-east-village/bikram-originator-sues-yoga-people-for-stealing-poses |archivedate=23 February 2015 }}</ref>
<ref>{{cite web |url=http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2011/12/yoga_to_the_peo.php |title=Yoga to the People Takes on Bikram Choudhury on Facebook |first=Rosie |last=Gray |work=[[Village Voice]] |date=6 December 2011 |accessdate=23 February 2015}}</ref>

As a result of that lawsuit, the [[United States Copyright Office]] issued a clarification that yoga postures (''[[asanas]]'') could not be copyrighted in the way claimed by Bikram, and that Yoga to the People and others could continue to freely teach these exercises.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://brooklynbased.com/blog/2013/04/19/the-fallout-from-a-downward-facing-dog-fight/ |title=The Fallout From A Downward-Facing Dog Fight | Brooklyn Based |first=Kate |last=Brack |work=brooklynbased.com |date=13 April 2013 |accessdate=23 February 2015}}</ref> After that clarification Yoga to the People and Bikram came to an agreement that Yoga to the People would not present Bikram Yoga.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2012/12/yoga-to-the-people-settles-lawsuit-still-cheap.html|title=Yoga to the People Settles Lawsuit, Stays Cheap -- NYMag|last2=Thorn|first2=Max|date=12 December 2012|publisher=|last1=Coscarelli|work=nymag.com|accessdate=23 February 2015}}</ref>

Despite not having a court-ordered obligation to do so, Yoga to the People ceased to present Bikram Yoga sequences in its studios and instead began using its own sequences.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/12/10/feeling-the-heat-yoga-chain-bows-to-bikram-despite-federal-ruling/?_r=0 |title=Yoga to the People to Stop Offering Hot Yoga to Settle Bikram Suit - NYTimes.com |first=Andy |last=Newman |work=cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com |date=10 December 2012|accessdate=23 February 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20130103/williamsburg/yoga-people-unveils-26-plus-6-bikram-yoga-replacement |title=Yoga to the People Unveils '26 Plus 6' Bikram Yoga Replacement - Williamsburg - DNAinfo.com New York |first=Meredith |last=Hoffman |work=dnainfo.com |date=3 January 2013 |accessdate=23 February 2015 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150223145732/http://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20130103/williamsburg/yoga-people-unveils-26-plus-6-bikram-yoga-replacement |archivedate=23 February 2015 }}</ref><ref name="Moss 2012">{{cite web |url= http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2012/12/hot_yoga_tk.php |title=The Hot Yoga War's Messy End: Why Yoga to the People Won't Be Teaching Bikram Yoga Anymore | Village Voice |first=Rebecca |last=Moss |work=blogs.villagevoice.com |date=11 December 2012 |accessdate=23 February 2015}}</ref> Of the settlement, Bikram said ""I win, he lose, and that's it... Nobody will ever be able to steal Bikram yoga anymore."<ref name="Moss 2012"/>

==Bikram's Yoga College v. Evolation Yoga==

Evolation Yoga was founded by a previous associate of [[Bikram Choudhury]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.villagevoice.com/news/hold-that-pose-federal-judge-rules-that-bikram-yoga-cannot-be-copyrighted-6718126 |title=Hold that Pose: Federal Judge Rules that Bikram Yoga Cannot be Copyrighted |first=Rebecca |last=Moss |date=19 December 2012 |accessdate=27 October 2015}}</ref> Choudhury similarly sued Evolation Yoga for teaching [[hot yoga]] with the same sequence of postures as Bikram Yoga.

On December 17, 2012, U.S. District Court Judge [[Otis D. Wright II|Otis Wright]] ruled that Bikram Choudhury does not have copyright protection for the sequence of 26 yoga postures and two breathing exercises commonly known as “Bikram Yoga.” The ruling, in favor of Evolation Yoga LLC and its founders Mark Drost and Zefea Samson, meant that non-Bikram studios are allowed to offer [[hot yoga]] classes utilizing that same 26-posture sequence—a legal right Choudhury actively and vigorously contested for several years.<ref>''Bloomberg "Yoga, AstraZeneca, Intel, UN: Intellectual Property" https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-12-17/yoga-astrazeneca-intel-un-intellectual-property.html</ref><ref>{{cite court |litigants=BIKRAM’S YOGA COLLEGE OF INDIA, L.P.; BIKRAM CHOUDHURY, v. EVOLATION YOGA, LLC; MARK DROST; ZEFEA SAMSON; and DOES 1 through 10 |court=UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA |date=2012 |url=http://evolationyoga.evolationyoga.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/121214MSJorder.pdf |quote=As such, we hold it unconstitutional.}}</ref>

On October 8, 2015, the [[Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals]] affirmed, finding that the sequence of yoga postures was not copyrightable subject matter under 17 U.S.C. § 102(b) and that Choudhury's copyright in a book describing his system did not give him copyright over the sequence itself.<ref>{{cite court |litigants=BIKRAM’S YOGA COLLEGE OF INDIA, L.P.; BIKRAM CHOUDHURY, v. EVOLATION YOGA, LLC; MARK DROST; ZEFEA SAMSON |court=UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT |date=2015 |url=https://www.eff.org/files/2015/10/09/yoga-copyright-opinion-ca9_0.pdf |quote=Because copyright protection is limited to the expression of ideas, and does not extend to the ideas themselves, the Bikram Yoga Sequence is not a proper subject of copyright protection.}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20150322205716/http://yogatothepeople.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Greg-Letter-Bikram-Settlement.pdf open letter from Yoga to the People] at the conclusion of the legal debate
*[https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2012/06/22/2012-15235/registration-of-claims-to-copyright#p-3 clarification about yoga posture copyright] from the ''[[Federal Register]]''

[[Category:Copyright case law]]
[[Category:Yoga schools]]

Copyright claims on Bikram Yoga - Revision history

ImportMaster at 01:53, 27 January 2022