Namaste? Court rules on copyright infringement case over yoga poses
Reprints
To non-aficionados, one pretzel-like pose is pretty much like any other and no big deal, but to those involved in yoga business, it can be a bit more serious.
That seems to be the case illustrated in a court ruling last week, in which an appeals court held that yoga poses cannot be copyrighted.
In 1971, the “self-proclaimed 'yogi to the stars,' ” Bikram Choudhury arrived in Hollywood and soon became a central figure in the popularity of yoga in the United States, according to last week's ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco in Bikram's Yoga College of India et al. v. Evolation Yoga L.L.C. et al.
Mr. Choudhury developed a sequence of 26 asanas, or yoga poses, and two breathing exercises, arranged in a particular order practiced over 90 minutes in a room heated to 105 degrees Fahrenheit that he published in a 1979 book, “Bikram's Beginning Yoga class.”
In 2002 and 2005 respectively, Mark Drost and Zefea Samson completed the three-month Bikram Yoga Teaching Training course and founded North Tonawanda, New York-based Evolation Yoga, which also offers 26 poses and two exercises that are done for 90 minutes in a 105 degree heated room.
In 2011, Mr. Choudhury and his yoga college filed suit against Evolation Yoga, Mr. Drost and Ms. Samson, claiming copyright infringement. The U.S. District Court in Pasadena, California dismissed the copyright infringement claim, and a three-judge appeals panel unanimously agreed.
The book “was not a proper subject of copyright protection because it was an idea, process or system designed to improve health, rather than an expression of an idea,” said the ruling, in upholding the case's dismissal.
The ruling says “The Indian practice and philosophy of yoga date back thousands of years and is derived from ancient Hindu scriptures.”
Read Next
-
Gimme a C! … for copyright
No matter how you toss and tumble the idea of precisely what constitutes a cheerleader uniform, a federal appeals court has decided that it most certainly can be copyrighted.
