Copyrighting curriculum?

[shesulsa]

Apparently, this is the trend as an effort to keep material from being "stolen" and keep art pure, etcetera.

How can this even be policed? At tournaments? Will there be the Martial Arts Police? How many frivilous lawsuits will come of this? Will any?

Would you do it?

 

[Jonathan Randall]

Apparently, this is the trend as an effort to keep material from being "stolen" and keep art pure, etcetera.

How can this even be policed? At tournaments? Will there be the Martial Arts Police? How many frivilous lawsuits will come of this? Will any?

Would you do it?

IIRC, the ATA started this ball rolling with its copyrighted Songham Forms in the early 1980's. Personally, I have mixed feelings on the issue. I do understand the frustration that system founders have when someone takes a curriculum that took them years to develop and starts another, competing organization with it or even puts it out for sale on video tape. On the other hand, protectionism is a good way to cause stagnation within a system.

Forms can be enforced, IMO, because large groups can threaten tournament holders with lawsuits if they allow non-members to use copyrighted forms in the competition. As to the rest? I don't know. There are only so many ways a person can move and many techniques are generic.