Legal Opinion

Bikram's Yoga College of India, L.P. v. Evolation Yoga, LLC

Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

Decided October 8, 2015No. 13-55763PublishedCited by 23 opinions

1Opinion of the Court

OPINION

WARDLAW, Circuit Judge:

We must decide whether a sequence of twenty-six yoga poses and two breathing exercises developed by Bikram Choudhury and described in his 1979 book, Bikmm’s Beginning Yoga Class, is entitled to copyright protection. This question implicates a fundamental principle underlying constitutional and statutory copyright protection — the idea/expression dichotomy. Because copyright protection is limited to the expression of ideas, and does not extend to the ideas themselves, the Bikram Yoga Sequence is not a proper subject of copyright protection.

I. Factual and…

2Cases cited19 opinions

  1. Graham v. John Deere Co. of Kansas CitySupreme Court of the United States · 1966
  2. Feist Publications, Inc. v. Rural Telephone Service Co.Supreme Court of the United States · 1991
  3. Harper & Row, Publishers, Inc. v. Nation EnterprisesSupreme Court of the United States · 1985
  4. Baker v. SeldenSupreme Court of the United States · 1880
  5. TWENTIETH CENTURY MUSIC CORP. Et Al. v. AIKENSupreme Court of the United States · 1975

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3Cited by23 opinions

  1. Jacobus Rentmeester v. Nike, Inc.Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit · 2018
  2. Experian Information Solutions v. Nationwide Marketing ServicesCourt of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit · 2018
  3. Hubbard v. City of San DiegoCourt of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit · 2025
  4. Pharrell Williams v. Frankie GayeCourt of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit · 2018
  5. Kyle Hanagami v. Epic Games, Inc.Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit · 2023

18 more not listed; retrieve them via the Exa API.

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