Yoga Wars: Namaste No More!

In the serene world of downward dog yoga poses, where yoga is also practiced on the beach, Yoga wars have erupted that have made their way to the Ninth Circuit. Two cases paint the canvas, one a copyright case and the other a First Amendment case. One involves Bikram Yoga trying to own through copyright the exclusive right to practice and teach a specific set of 26 yoga poses. The other involves the City of San Diego trying to ban yoga on the beaches. Both cases provide a foundation to explore the basics of copyright law along with a primer overview on the First Amendment, to then find out whether or not, when yoga wars erupt in the realm of copyright and the First Amendment, yoga practitioners are the winner.