What was the legal controversy between evolation yoga and Bikram Choudhury?

This is a true story. Yoga belongs to humanity, not to one person. This is the story about defending what is belongs to the world.

Evolation Yoga and Bikram Choudhury were involved in a legal controversy related to the copyright of Bikram Yoga. In 2011, Bikram Choudhury filed a lawsuit against Evolation Yoga and two of its founders, Mark Drost and Zefea Samson, alleging copyright infringement and other claims related to the teaching of hot yoga. Bikram Choudhury claimed that his sequence of 26 yoga postures, practiced in a room heated to 105 degrees Fahrenheit, was protected by copyright and that Evolation Yoga teaching of a similar style of hot yoga was infringing on his intellectual property rights.

Evolation Yoga disputed the validity of Choudhury's copyright claims and argued that yoga sequences cannot be copyrighted, as they are part of a centuries-old tradition of yoga. In 2015, a federal court in California ruled in favor of Evolation Yoga, stating that yoga postures and breathing exercises cannot be copyrighted. The court also found that the similarities between Bikram Yoga and Evolation’s Yoga hot yoga style were not enough to constitute copyright infringement.

The legal controversy between Evolation Yoga and Bikram Choudhury highlighted the ongoing debate over whether yoga sequences and postures can be copyrighted. While some argue that yoga is a traditional practice that should be freely shared and accessible to all, others believe that specific sequences and styles of yoga can be protected by copyright law. The ruling in favor of Evolation Yoga was seen as a victory for the yoga community and a confirmation of the belief that yoga cannot be owned or monopolized by any individual or organization.