Pilates Transparency Project
- Feb 5, 2023
- 5 min read
Updated: Feb 5, 2023
The simple act of sharing vintage Pilates photographs and materials, all of them widely seen and shared in the past, is under attack. Now, our colleague, Mary Kelly is being sued for copyright infringement after posting Pilates photos on Instagram. This lawsuit impacts Pilates teachers directly: it provides all of us in the Pilates community with the opportunity to know what materials are in the public domain and what (if any) are not. As Pilates practitioners, we must preserve our right to refer to the founder of the Pilates Method, not just in words, but in images. This lawsuit will benefit our community and help us to honor Joe Pilates. Now is the time to act. The Pilates Transparency Project has organized a fundraiser through GoFundMe to help with Mary's legal fees. Please share and donate what you can via the following link: https://gofund.me/4449c0dd Do you have an experience or story to share? This is the place. #PilatesTransparencyProject IG: @PilatesTransparencyProject
We’ve got postcards 📫 Are you interested in helping us preserve the right to use images of Joe & Clara Pilates? Well, hot off the press are “We need your help” postcards with QR code that scans to our GoFundMe campaign. Instructors and studios interested in displaying these and helping us spread the word to the larger community (including clients!) just click into our linktree and submit your order. Please consider displaying these at your next event or workshop. They are free! They’re real, and they’re spectacular! ❗️Please continue to like, share, comment and save.
Defend Your Rightful Access to Pilates History!
Pilates Transparency Project
Please Support the Pilates Transparency Project: This is Mary's Story
The Pilates Transparency Project has organized a fundraiser through GoFundMe to help with Mary's legal fees. Please share and donate what you can via the following link: https://gofund.me/4449c0dd
******************************************************
Trademark Lawsuit
Court overturns Pilates Trademarks
By Lawrence Stanley, Esq.
What’s in a name? Plenty, especially if the name is “Pilates,” one of the hottest fitness trends in America. An October 2000 decision in Manhattan’s federal court declared that Pilates, like yoga and karate, is an exercise method and not a trademark. The decision affected thousands of Pilates instructors who had been prevented from saying that they taught Pilates. “Imagine if you were a yoga teacher, and couldn‘t say ‘yoga’ – you were forced to describe it in some other way,” said Marie José Blom-Lawrence, a Pilates instructor since 1980. “Pilates instructors were in the same boat.”................
Ten Years Later
The Pilates Trademark Case
A decade has passed the since the infamous Pilates trademark trial ended.
Fortunately it turned out OK for all of us.
Here’s a retrospective look at the events leading up to the trial, and what was like during that time by our Founder and CEO, Ken Endelman.
**************************************
正如你們中的許多人所知，分享老式普拉提照片和材料的簡單行為——所有這些在過去都被廣泛看到和分享——正受到攻擊。在過去的一兩年裡，各地深受喜愛的普拉提教練的社交媒體頁面和網站都被肖恩·加拉格爾 和他的公司 里奇通設計 下線了。無數其他人要么受到威脅，要么選擇自我審查，害怕行使本應屬於他們的權利。
現在，我們在 True Pilates Boston 的普拉提同事瑪麗·凱利 (Mary Kelly) 在 Instagram 上發布了普拉提歷史照片後，被 Richtone 起訴侵犯版權。
這起訴訟對您有直接影響：它為普拉提社區的所有人提供了了解哪些材料屬於公共領域以及哪些材料（如果有）不屬於公共領域的機會。
自 1990 年代初以來，即使普拉提領域不斷擴大和發展，我們追溯集體歷史的能力仍受到 Sean Gallagher 和 Richtone 的阻礙。Joseph Pilates遠遠領先於他的時代，關於他的方法和見解還有很多有待發現。這就是為什麼我們的社區保留對歷史文件的訪問權限如此重要的原因。此外，作為普拉提練習者，我們必須保留提及普拉提方法創始人的權利，不僅要用文字，還要用形象。
這起訴訟將使我們的社區受益，並幫助我們紀念 Joe Pilates。現在是採取行動的時候了。
對於瑪麗的案例，我們現在有一個獨特的時刻來捍衛我們的歷史。2000 年，我們的社區聚集在一起捍衛普拉提這個詞，讓我們所有人都能使用——我們贏了！現在我們必須齊心協力，幫助瑪麗在法庭上確認肖恩·加拉格爾和里奇通無權擁有描繪喬和/或克拉拉普拉提和/或參考普拉提練習的視覺材料。
***************************************
To All Pilates Friends, Professionals and Practitioners
We need your help.
As many of you know, the simple act of sharing vintage Pilates photographs and materials -- all of them widely seen and shared in the past -- is under attack. In the past year or two, beloved Pilates instructors everywhere have had their social media pages and websites taken offline by Sean Gallagher and his company, Richtone Designs. Countless others have either been threatened or have chosen to self-censor, fearful of exercising what should be their right.
Now, our Pilates colleague Mary Kelly of True Pilates Boston is being sued for copyright infringement by Richtone after posting historical Pilates photos on Instagram.
This lawsuit impacts you directly: it provides all of us in the Pilates community with the opportunity to know what materials are in the public domain and what (if any) are not.
Since the early 1990's, even as the Pilates field has expanded and grown, our ability to reach back into our collective history has been stymied by Sean Gallagher and Richtone. Joe Pilates was far ahead of his time, and there is still much to discover about his method and insights. This is why it is so important that our community retain access to historical documents. Moreover, as Pilates practitioners, we must preserve our right to refer to the founder of the Pilates Method, not just in words, but in images.
This lawsuit will benefit our community and help us to honor Joe Pilates. Now is the time to act.
With Mary's case, we have a unique moment right now to defend our history. In 2000, our community came together to defend the word Pilates for all of us to use - and we won! Now we must come together to help Mary affirm in a court of law that Sean Gallagher and Richtone have no rightful claim to own the visual materials that depict Joe and/or Clara Pilates and/or reference Pilates exercises.
Helping Mary Kelly with her legal representation will help all of us.
Please donate. 100% of donations go to Mary’s legal bills. Every donation matters.
Defend Your Rightful Access to Pilates History!
.
Please Support the Pilates Transparency Project: This is Mary's Story
*******************************************************Updates (1)
October 15, 2022by Pilates Transparency, Organizer
For those who have not yet seen, the New York Times published an article today detailing Mary's lawsuit, Sean's allegations, and the other people his baseless claims have affected and their stories. We encourage you all to read, and should you feel inspired to donate more to help Mary in her cause to fight back, we welcome you to do so!
Comments