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Yoga piracyYoga piracy is the appropriation of postures and techniques that are found in ancient and traditional yogatreatises belonging to Hinduismand India. India yogishave been concerned by such people as fitness instructors in the West who claim patentsand copyrightson asanas(yoga poses) and pranayamatechniques and sequences; and ayurvedicmedicine. Typically, western practitioners and teachers have taken over the traditional knowledge, although the case of Bikram Yogais also relevant. The Government of Indiahas initiated the documentaion of 1,500 yoga asana or postures - from Patanjali(ancient Hindutexts) to the present times - and store them in a Digital Traditional Knowledge Libraryto be made available to patent officesglobally. The database would have 30 million pages and a third of it has already been compiled under the Commerce Ministry. 15 of the most prominent yoga schools in India are involved including the Iyengar Instituteand Kaivalyadham, run by Nitin Unkule. While knowledge about yogahas been in public domainin India in various vernacular languages, the same was not available to patent examiners abroad, which is why outsiders have been granted patents on something that has been around in India for thousands of years. New Delhi?s action assumes significance as there is huge money involved in yoga, which according to some estimates, is a $3 billionindustry in the US alone. See also
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Topicsin Yoga
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