California Judge Rules Against Bikram in Copyright Suit

Just a few weeks after the settlement of Bikram Yoga's case against Yoga to the People, a California judge has ruled against Bikram's copyright claim in a similar case, this time versus Evolation Yoga. Though the grounds for the two suits were much alike, namely Bikram's objection to the unauthorized teaching of his 26-pose series, the results are very different and could have broad ramifications. According to Bloomberg, Judge Otis Wright ruled that "even if the manner in which Choudhury arranged the sequence is unique, the sequence would not be copyrightable subject matter because individual yoga poses are not copyrightable subject matter." No response has come from the Bikram camp yet, and several other issues in the suit that are still pending are scheduled to be decided at the end of January.