651 From: “zarembadavid” <rudra@graffiti.net>
Date: Sat Apr 9, 2005 6:17pm
Subject: - Yoga Is Focus in Groundbreaking Copyright Case zarembadavid
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- Yoga Is Focus in Groundbreaking Copyright Case
Primezone Media Network
04/09/05 5:00 AM PT
U.S. District Court Judge Phyllis Hamilton acknowledged the case is
unusual, writing: “On first impression, it thus seems inappropriate,
and almost unbelievable, that a sequence of yoga positions could be
any one person’s intellectual property.”
In a case that will have broad implications for the yoga community, a
federal district court judge in San Francisco, California ruled late
last month that a yoga sequence consisting of a number of individual
yoga asanas (poses) arranged in a sufficiently creative manner could
be entitled to copyright protection.
The ruling is the latest in what has become a heated dispute between
Bikram Choudhury, the undisputed founder of the popular brand of yoga
known as Bikram Yoga, and Open Source Yoga Unity, Inc. (OSYU), an
organization comprised of yoga instructors who seek to cancel
Bikram’s trademarks and copyrights in Bikram Yoga.
Unusual Case
U.S. District Court Judge Phyllis Hamilton acknowledged the case is
unusual, writing: “On first impression, it thus seems inappropriate,
and almost unbelievable, that a sequence of yoga positions could be
any one person’s intellectual property.”
The Judge acknowledged the lack of legal precedence on this issue,
saying that the “OSYU has provided no persuasive authority that a
compilation of yoga asanas cannot be protected under the copyright
laws in the same manner as other compilations.”
However, the court admitted that it “has been unable to locate any
authority that precludes” application of the copyright laws to yoga.
Within Rights
The judge also dismissed outright OSYU’s claims of copyright misuse,
saying that it was well within Bikram’s rights as a copyright owner
to “enforce his copyright by informing people he believes to be
infringing his copyright that his copyright permits him to enjoin
their performance of the Bikram yoga sequence, or any modifications
of the sequence that can be considered substantially similar to it.”
“I am very pleased with the judge’s concise and well-reasoned
opinion,” said Susan Hollander, an intellectual property attorney at
Manatt, Phelps & Phillips LLP who is Bikram’s lead counsel. “Although
the case is far from over, the judge’s opinion clarified many of the
legal and practical issues going forward. Bikram looks forward to
telling his side of the story at trial under the narrow guidelines
the judge has now set.”
Attorney Susan Hollander led a team of lawyers from Manatt, Phelps &
Phillips, LLP’s Palo Alto and Los Angeles offices. Trial for this
case is currently set for June of this year.
http://www.linuxinsider.com/story/42056.html - Rudra
652 From: victor yj <vic@yahoo.com>
Date: Sun Apr 10, 2005 6:24am
Subject: Re: - Yoga Is Focus in Groundbreaking Copyright Case vic
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Yeah Bikram is a nut. i hope he doesn’t spoil the reputation of Yoga in the USA, though he seems to be doing a good job of it so far.
zarembadavid <rudra@graffiti.net> wrote: - Yoga Is Focus in Groundbreaking Copyright Case
Primezone Media Network
04/09/05 5:00 AM PT
U.S. District Court Judge Phyllis Hamilton acknowledged the case is
unusual, writing: “On first impression, it thus seems inappropriate,
and almost unbelievable, that a sequence of yoga positions could be
any one person’s intellectual property.”
In a case that will have broad implications for the yoga community, a
federal district court judge in San Francisco, California ruled late
last month that a yoga sequence consisting of a number of individual
yoga asanas (poses) arranged in a sufficiently creative manner could
be entitled to copyright protection.
The ruling is the latest in what has become a heated dispute between
Bikram Choudhury, the undisputed founder of the popular brand of yoga
known as Bikram Yoga, and Open Source Yoga Unity, Inc. (OSYU), an
organization comprised of yoga instructors who seek to cancel
Bikram’s trademarks and copyrights in Bikram Yoga.
Unusual Case
U.S. District Court Judge Phyllis Hamilton acknowledged the case is
unusual, writing: “On first impression, it thus seems inappropriate,
and almost unbelievable, that a sequence of yoga positions could be
any one person’s intellectual property.”
The Judge acknowledged the lack of legal precedence on this issue,
saying that the “OSYU has provided no persuasive authority that a
compilation of yoga asanas cannot be protected under the copyright
laws in the same manner as other compilations.”
However, the court admitted that it “has been unable to locate any
authority that precludes” application of the copyright laws to yoga.
Within Rights
The judge also dismissed outright OSYU’s claims of copyright misuse,
saying that it was well within Bikram’s rights as a copyright owner
to “enforce his copyright by informing people he believes to be
infringing his copyright that his copyright permits him to enjoin
their performance of the Bikram yoga sequence, or any modifications
of the sequence that can be considered substantially similar to it.”
“I am very pleased with the judge’s concise and well-reasoned
opinion,” said Susan Hollander, an intellectual property attorney at
Manatt, Phelps & Phillips LLP who is Bikram’s lead counsel. “Although
the case is far from over, the judge’s opinion clarified many of the
legal and practical issues going forward. Bikram looks forward to
telling his side of the story at trial under the narrow guidelines
the judge has now set.”
Attorney Susan Hollander led a team of lawyers from Manatt, Phelps &
Phillips, LLP’s Palo Alto and Los Angeles offices. Trial for this
case is currently set for June of this year.
http://www.linuxinsider.com/story/42056.html - Rudra