Yoga - Copyright a yoga move?

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Copyright a yoga move?

omjaram

2005-05-02, 5:53 pm

Here is a story from a blog that caught my eye. I should say caught in
my throat. The blog with all the original links etc. is located here.

http://jgohil.typepad.com/desiflavo...ou_copyrig.html

Copyright a yoga move? If yoga has been around for 5,000 years, can
a 21st century businessman claim to own a piece of it? Bikram Choudhury
says yes. The Beverly Hills yoga mogul, who popularized his style of
yoga and then franchised a chain of studios bearing his name, has long
rankled traditionalists, who dislike his tough business tactics and
brash outspokenness. Now Choudhury is facing a challenge in a San
Francisco courtroom, where a federal judge is hearing arguments in a
lawsuit that some legal experts say could define a new frontier in
intellectual property. At issue: Can Choudhury take a sequence of two
breathing exercises and 26 yoga poses from an ancient Indian practice,
copyright it and control how it is practiced? The Open Source Yoga
Unity people say he can't.
Apr 28, 2005 in Yoga | Permalink

Comments

Two weeks ago a young man was stabbed to death on the street next door
to my shop. His family and friends set up a memorial on the sidewalk
next to the liquor store where he fought and died. Along with candles,
flowers and photos, someone offered an unopened 32-ounce bottle of
beer. That beer sat on the ground untouched for a week when one of the
local drunks couldn't stand it any longer and grabbed it. When
someone passing by told him, "don't take that!" he incredulously
asked, "why not?"

Why Not? I think the Law of Karma is a real good reason. But this man
is sick, frightened and no doubt thinks he is very far from God. It
seems to me that the significance of robbing a grave for something one
thinks he needs is nothing compared to taking a gift from God; selling
it as your own and then using the law to thwart others in its use, in
order to further enrich yourself (shiver...)

The Bikrams and Chopras of this world stand in stark contrast to people
like the French sadhu in India who built factories from scratch,
employs thousands, and takes nothing for himself.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3094780.stm

This is an example of power, I aspire to :-)

Namaste

Stu

2005-05-05, 5:59 pm

On 2005-04-29 20:24:38 -0700, "omjaram" <omjaroo@yahoo.com> said:

> Here is a story from a blog that caught my eye. I should say caught in
> my throat. The blog with all the original links etc. is located here.
>
> http://jgohil.typepad.com/desiflavo...ou_copyrig.html
>
> Copyright a yoga move? If yoga has been around for 5,000 years, can
> a 21st century businessman claim to own a piece of it? Bikram Choudhury
> says yes. The Beverly Hills yoga mogul, who popularized his style of
> yoga and then franchised a chain of studios bearing his name, has long
> rankled traditionalists, who dislike his tough business tactics and
> brash outspokenness. Now Choudhury is facing a challenge in a San
> Francisco courtroom, where a federal judge is hearing arguments in a
> lawsuit that some legal experts say could define a new frontier in
> intellectual property. At issue: Can Choudhury take a sequence of two
> breathing exercises and 26 yoga poses from an ancient Indian practice,
> copyright it and control how it is practiced? The Open Source Yoga
> Unity people say he can't.
> Apr 28, 2005 in Yoga | Permalink

This is an old story. Its all about Bikram wanting control of his
teachings. He doesn't want rogue teachers changing his program and
still calling it Bikram's Yoga. It is not like he is claiming the
asanas themselves are his.

Frankly, he can keep his sequence and his overheated room. There are
plenty of other sequences that can be modified to fit the needs of a
student's energy, health & evolution. This one-size-fits-all approach
is extremely limiting. Boundaries, limitations, confinement are
exactly what yoga is about breaking.
--
~Stu