Bikram Yoga’s Sequence of ‘Hot Yoga’ Poses Not Protected as Works Under Copyright Act

A sequence of yoga poses is not a work of authorship protected as a creative work under the Copyright Act, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California ruled Dec. 14 (Bikram’s Yoga College of India L.P. v. Evolation Yoga LLC, C.D. Cal., 2:11-cv-05506-ODW-SS, 12/14/12).

Granting partial summary judgment in favor of defendants in a case brought by the founder of Bikram Yoga, the court quoted extensively from a recent statement by the Copyright Office declaring that yoga pose sequences, as well as other simple routines and social dances were not “pantomime or choreographic” works protected ...