Trademark and Intellectual Property License Agreement

ip agreement

$500 monthly licensing fee to use Bikram trademark and intellectual property.

New Affiliation Agreement

affiliation agreement

Pretty standard and similar to the affiliation agreement that has been in use for several years. The $475 initiation fee for new studios is new.

A Message from Bikram

Dear Studio Owners,

After having read the FDD and hearing your concerns – I share many of your feelings.

The subject matter (franchising) is right, but the approach is wrong. I have discussed with some of you your concerns and I’ve decided that you should write what you want to see in the franchise document.

As soon as I receive a new FDD written by you guys, I will decide the final changes and how to finish the franchise document.

The document isn’t wrong, it just needs to be fixed so you are comfortable with it.

Sincerely,
Bikram

No Winners Thus Far

This is another older article but it makes some good points.

Yoga Suit Settlement Beggars Open Source Ideals

Openness was the first casuality when Open Source Yoga Unity quietly settled its lawsuit challenging the validity of Bikram Choudhry’s copyrights on his yoga training routine.

Open Source Yoga Unity Cashing In

It seems the Open Source Yoga Unity people are selling copies of the Settlement Agreement. Of course, their site claims to be selling “Memberships” but for years the site has been dead and all attempts at contact by email were either ignored or returned as undeliverable. Now that the Franchise situation has brought them back into the spotlight the site has been updated with this new Membership option. Curious, aint it?

Hopefully, with the Agreement being sold like this someone will leak it…

(opensourcehotyoga at hushmail dot com)

Background Reading

PLAINTIFF’S OPPOSITION TO DEFENDANT’S MOTION FOR JUDGMENT ON THE PLEADINGS OR, IN THE ALTERNATIVE, FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT OR SUMMARY ADJUDICATION

Your Karma Ran Over My Dogma

Here’s an interesting article from Jordan Susman on the topic. The link is to a PDF.

YOUR KARMA RAN OVER MY DOGMA: BIKRAM YOGA AND THE (IM)POSSIBILITIES OF COPYRIGHTING YOGA

The Patry Copyright Blog

From a few years ago…

Until April 1, 2005, I would never have thought a court would entertain the possibility that one could acquire exclusive rights over the performance of yoga exercises. Leaving aside serious questions of origination, yoga routines are intended to bring about physical, mental, or emotional results and are, therefore, excluded by Section 102(b). Nor does a book about them convey any rights in the routines; that’s been the law since Baker v. Selden, 101 U.S. 99 (1879), which rejected a claim by the author of a treatise on bookkeeping that a registration for the book gave him exclusive rights over the system of bookkeeping explained therein. Baker v. Selden is one of the foundations for Section 102(b).

So if everything is so clear, what happened?

from The Patry Copyright Blog

Bikram Yoga Studio Owners Forum

The forum linked to is an open one but it’s stated goal is to be a forum for Bikram Yoga studio owners and certified instructors. Please respect their wishes. They are having an important discussion that is graciously being held in public. It would be a shame if they decided to make it private in order to stay focused.

Bikram Franchise Discussion Board

Open Source

Open Source is a concept that was originally applied to software but it is being applied in a lot of other ways. It’s being used here as a response to the concern of copyrights being assigned to hatha yoga asanas and sequences.

Read more about Open Source in at Wikipedia.

Google “yoga copyright”.

Here’s a brief article about the Indian government’s response to the issue.