Posted by Richelle Lyon on December 15, 2011 - 12:24pm
L.A. may not be the yoga capital of the world, but it’s got to be close. And L.A. yoga teachers may be interested about a legal case currently winding its way through the Central District of California (the district for Los Angeles) where it’s been preliminarily determined that yoga poses may not be intellectual property, and therefore not subject to copyright.
The finding will likely not sit well with yoga guru Bikram Choudhury, who’s attempting three separate lawsuits against yoga studios and/or their owners for issues including copyright infringement, trademark infringement, dilution of intellectual property, unfair competition, unfair business practices, and breach of contract.
According to Laura Lee Fischer, U.S. Copyright Office's acting chief of the performing arts division, yoga exercises, "do not constitute the subject matter that Congress intended to protect as choreography." Intellectual property professor at Harvard Law School, William Fisher, says that the law "explicitly forbids copyrights for procedures, systems and methods of operation," especially when they are related to health. And it’s “clear cut” that yoga poses are not protected under laws related to choreography because they are not dance.
But Choudhury and his attorney, Robert Gilchrest, are not giving up. They maintain that yoga is exercise, and the cases are valid because otherwise people “like Jane Fonda, Cindy Crawford, Billy Blank and even the NY City Ballet apparently will have difficulties with the US Copyright Office."
The case continues to work its way through the courts, but the bottom line is this: All yoga teachers/business owners should beware of asserting ownership for yoga sequences or dialogue, and beware of the potential unenforceability of non-compete agreements you are asking others (or have been asked) to sign.
The finding will likely not sit well with yoga guru Bikram Choudhury, who’s attempting three separate lawsuits against yoga studios and/or their owners for issues including copyright infringement, trademark infringement, dilution of intellectual property, unfair competition, unfair business practices, and breach of contract.
According to Laura Lee Fischer, U.S. Copyright Office's acting chief of the performing arts division, yoga exercises, "do not constitute the subject matter that Congress intended to protect as choreography." Intellectual property professor at Harvard Law School, William Fisher, says that the law "explicitly forbids copyrights for procedures, systems and methods of operation," especially when they are related to health. And it’s “clear cut” that yoga poses are not protected under laws related to choreography because they are not dance.
But Choudhury and his attorney, Robert Gilchrest, are not giving up. They maintain that yoga is exercise, and the cases are valid because otherwise people “like Jane Fonda, Cindy Crawford, Billy Blank and even the NY City Ballet apparently will have difficulties with the US Copyright Office."
The case continues to work its way through the courts, but the bottom line is this: All yoga teachers/business owners should beware of asserting ownership for yoga sequences or dialogue, and beware of the potential unenforceability of non-compete agreements you are asking others (or have been asked) to sign.
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