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Los Angeles, California,July 30, 2003
We are pleased to report that Bikram and Rajashree Choudhury
have achieved a significant victory in their lawsuit against Kim
Schreiber-Morrison, Mark Morrison, and their business, Prana
Incorporated (the Morrisons). In the lawsuit, Bikram and
Rajashree asserted claims against the Morrisons for copyright
infringement, trademark infringement, violation of rights of
publicity, and other related causes of action, and sought to
permanently enjoin the Morrisons from such conduct. Under a
settlement reached on June 12, 2002, the Morrisons voluntarily
consented to the following terms:
Payment of substantial monetary compensation to Bikram and
Rajashree, the amount of which must be kept confidential
pursuant to the settlement agreement;
To never again teach Bikrams Basic Yoga System;
To never again use or otherwise infringe upon Bikrams
copyrighted works, such as his books, videotape, audiotape,teaching materials and the selection and arrangement of yoga
poses in Bikrams Basic Yoga System;
To never again use or otherwise infringe upon Bikrams trade
and service marks, including but not limited to Bikram Yoga,
Bikrams Yoga College of India, and the picture mark of
Bikram in the spine twisting pose;
To never again use or otherwise exploit the names or
likenesses of Bikram and Rajashree Choudhury for their own
commercial purposes;
To the entry of a stipulated permanent injunction, issued by
the United States District Court of the Central District of
California, formally barring the Morrisons from using orotherwise exploiting Bikram and Rajashrees intellectual
property as set forth above; and
To provide a signed statement of apology to Bikram and
Rajashree.
On June 30, 2003, Federal Judge David O. Carter issued the
attached court order permanently enjoining and restraining the
Morrisons from infringing on Bikrams and Rajashrees intellectual
property as set forth above.
This outcome represents a significant legal victory for Bikram,
Rajashree, and the Bikram Yoga community, and fully vindicatesBikrams conviction in the originality and legal enforceability of
Bikrams Yoga.
Bikram and Rajashree were represented in the lawsuit
by attorney James K. Lee of the law firm of
Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP
see a copy of the Court Injunction
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Bikram's Yoga College of India reminds yoga practitioners and
aspiring yoga instructors everywhere that this litigation serves as a
powerful example of why there is no benefit to learning from
uncertified and unlicensed yoga instructors who claim to teach
Bikram yoga or "something like it."
The simple facts are these:
No one may teach Bikram Yoga classes unless he/she is a
certified and licensed Bikram Yoga teacher.
No one may teach or certify others to become Bikram Yoga
teachers other than Bikram Choudhury.
No one may offer obvious, thinly disguised copies of Bikram
Yoga and represent to the public that it is "their" yoga.
Yoga students should be particularly cautious of those persons who
claim to offer teacher training and/or teacher "certification" in
Bikram Yoga, or represent or suggest that their yoga teacher
training program "is just as good as Bikram Yoga." Nobody may
teach others to become Bikram Yoga teachers other than Bikram
Choudhury himself.
This lawsuit is proof that the legal system will vindicate Bikram
against those persons who exploit and adulterate Bikram Yoga for
their own purposes. These persons are not yoga gurus. These
persons are not interested in "sharing" yoga with everyone, as they
may self-servingly claim. These persons are only interested in
personally profiting from teaching Bikram Yoga. It is for the
protection of Bikram Yoga, Bikram Yoga practitioners everywhere
and the true spirit of yoga that these imposters must and will be
stopped.
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Bikram Obtains Copyright Registration for His Asana
Sequence
Los Angeles, California, February 5, 2003: With great pleasure
we would like to announce that Bikram recently secured federal
copyright registration under 17 U.S.C. Section 410 for his original
work of authorship in his asana sequence of 26 postures and 2
breathing exercises. Through registration of this work, the United
States Copyright Office acknowledges Bikrams exclusive right to
the distinct series of postures and breathing exercises comprising
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the sequence and Bikrams Beginning Yoga Class.
This latest development reinforces the strength and value inherent
in the Bikram Yoga system, enhancing opportunities for both
certified Bikram Yoga Teachers, and licensed Bikram Yoga studios.
Registration of the asana sequence with the U.S. Copyright Office
represents a significant milestone for Bikram in his efforts toformalize the intellectual property rights which encompass the
Bikram Yoga style and method. While some in the yoga community
once viewed the prospect of formal legal protection for Bikrams
sequence with skepticism, Bikrams insight and creativity have once
again proven them wrong.
The asana sequence copyright registration joins Bikrams growing
portfolio of registered copyrights and trademarks that lie at the
heart of the proprietary Bikram Yoga system. Bikram can now
easily and effectively enforce these rights.
Due to the originality of the sequence and the strength of thecopyright registration, infringement of the sequence copyright can
occur in a number of ways. In addition to exact copying of the
sequence, the copyright prohibits others from creating derivative
works of the sequence. Virtually all modifications or additions to
the sequence will constitute copyright infringement, including: the
unauthorized use of even a small number of consecutive postures;
the addition of different postures or breathing exercises to the
sequence or portions of the sequence; the teaching or offering of
the sequence with or without the Dialogue; or by the addition of
extra elements to the sequence, like music.
Bikram will be entitled to receive an award of statutory damages ofup to $150,000 per infringement and can also recover his attorneys
fees from infringers in lawsuits concerning copyright infringement of
the sequence.
Please join us in congratulating Bikram for more than three decades
of groundbreaking work in bringing to fruition the recognition of the
priceless intellectual property assets that are Bikram Yoga.
--Jacob C. Reinbolt
Procopio, Cory, Hargreaves & Savitch LLP
www.procopio.com
http://www.bikramyoga.com/press/press19.htm