Bikram Choudhury, the eccentric Beverly Hills yoga master who once said in a Business 2.0 interview, “I have balls like atom bombs, two of them, 100 megatons each. Nobody fucks with me,” has been suing practitioners he accuses of illicitly teaching his particular style of yoga (26 postures, done twice each in a >105-degree-hot room). Now, one group of yoga enthusiasts is suing back.
bq. Choudhury, America’s best known and most controversial yogi, opened one of his first yoga schools in San Francisco in 1973 and now boasts 900 studios worldwide. He copyrighted, trademarked and franchised his poses, breathing techniques and dialogue, creating the first chain of its kind. He also hired lawyers who set loose a flurry of cease-and-desist letters warning yoga teachers in the Bay Area and beyond not to teach his yoga or anything “derivative” if they haven’t graduated from his $5,000-per-person training program and are not paying a studio franchise fee. His letters threaten a penalty of $150,000 per infringement.
bq. Now, a San Francisco nonprofit organization of yoga enthusiasts from San Rafael to Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., is countering with a federal lawsuit attacking the guru’s claim that yoga is proprietary. They say that yoga is a 5,000-year- old tradition that cannot be owned. The suit is asking the judge to determine whether Choudhury is entitled to copyright and trademark his material under federal copyright laws. A trial date has been set for next February.
Link to SF Chron story, Link to Reuters story viaBoing Boing
I’m absolutely disgusted that someone would take yoga, an art practiced in India for centuries and use it to his own personal gain. You cant “copyright” yoga. His 26 steps or whatever were stolen (or adapted) from somewhere else…public information, you could say. Like the Constitution or the Bhagavad Gita. You cant adapt it, and then copyright it and claim it as your own. Morally, its just wrong. Legally, he’s got some grounds however.
A couple of notes from a Bikram certified teacher here. I think its really just a case of understanding really. So many people jump up on their moral high horse without really understanding the situation. Bikram hasn’t copyrighted the individual poses, just the series of the postures.
I guess its just like music with the notes having been around for ever, but when you rearrange those notes into a song that song becomes yours and you can copyright it. If somebody makes a song too similar to yours that is copyright infringment. Legally, you can copyright movement and choreography the same way you copyright music. As far as morally speaking people seem to believe that Bikram want to own yoga. This is pretty much laughable concept. Bikram just wants people who are teaching Bikram yoga to teach it his way. I agree with the previous post in that yoga postures have been around for centuries and yes, they are public information, but when you design a specific series in a certain order with specific breathing and dialogue I think you have the moral right to protect the integrity that process.There are so many postures and types of yoga out there that to say that bikram wants to copyright yoga is downright ridiculous.
personally, i view his yoga as a gift and while I understand the controversy surrounding Bikram in regards to his newspaper quotes, he is one of the most caring people I have ever met. he currently makes zero dollars from his hundreds of studios around the world so to think that the man is all about personal gain seems presumptious to me. Anyways, thats my two cents worth.
Namaste
Bikram is a pig. I can understand that he wants to make trademark his sequence, that’s fine. So people go to his school, get certified and are able to go off and teach bikram as they wish right? NO!!! He wants all the studios to be painted the same, he wants his pictures to adorn the walls, he even wants you to use his dialogue word for word. Have you read his dialogue? It isn’t even gramatically correct. You can’t have American’s talking like their fresh off the plane from India. It’s not enough he wants to copywrite it, make 5,000 dollars of his furure instructors. He wants to be a communist and rule over everyone. He is satan.
Bikram is a pig. I can understand that he wants to m/a/k/e trademark his sequence, and thats fine. So people go to his school, get certified and are able to go off and teach bikram as they wish, right? NO!!! He wants all the studios to be painted the same, he wants his pictures to adorn the walls, and he even wants you to use his dialogue word for word. Have you read his dialogue? It isnt even g/r/a/m/a/t/i/c/a/l/l/y grammatically correct. You cant have A/m/e/r/i/c/a/n/s Americans t/a/l/k/i/n/g speaking like t/h/e/i/r they’re fresh off the plane from India. Its not enough that he wants to copywrite it/, and make 5,000 dollars of his furure instructors. He wants to be a communist and rule over everyone. He is satan.
Maybe if you had been schooled in India you would’ve learned correct English. -Editor
Bikram is a pig. I can understand that he wants to m/a/k/e trademark his sequence, and thats fine. So people go to his school, get certified and are able to go off and teach Bikram bikram as they wish, right? NO!!! He wants all the studios to be painted the same, h/e w/a/n/t/s his pictures to adorn the walls, and h/e even wants you to use his dialogue word for word. Have you read his dialogue? It isnt even g/r/a/m/a/t/i/c/a/l/l/y grammatically correct. You cant have A/m/e/r/i/c/a/n/s Americans t/a/l/k/i/n/g speaking like t/h/e/i/r theyre fresh off the plane from India. Its not enough that he wants to c/o/p/y/r/i/g/h/t copywrite it/, and make 5,000 dollars of his f/u/t/u/r/e/ furure instructors. He wants to be a C/o/m/m/u/n/i/s/t communist and rule over everyone. He is S/a/t/a/n satan.
Maybe if you had been schooled in India you wouldve learned correct English. -Editor