Beverly Hills yoga master Bikram Choudhury copyrighted a series of 26 yoga postures, exercises, breathing techniques and dialogues and is now seeking to enforce his intellectual property in them. His series of legal actions has roused controversy among yoga buffs, some of whom “say that yoga is a 5,000-year- old tradition that cannot be owned” and are fighting back in court. (Julian Guthrie, “Yogis go to court over poses”, San Francisco Chronicle, Feb. 5; “Yoga master’s lawsuit? Bad karma”, Reuters/CNN, Feb. 9; Martin Hodgson and agencies, “New twist to yoga positions as guru sues”, The Guardian (UK), Feb. 9). For efforts to enforce intellectual property in quilt designs, see Dec. 18-19, 2000. Update Apr. 17, 2005: judge rules Choudhury’s claims not necessarily barred under copyright law.
Yoga postures copyrightable?
Beverly Hills yoga master Bikram Choudhury copyrighted a series of 26 yoga postures, exercises, breathing techniques and dialogues and is now seeking to enforce his intellectual property in them. His series of legal actions has roused controversy among yoga buffs, some of whom “say that yoga is a 5,000-year- old tradition that cannot be owned” […]
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