Advertisement

Bikram Yoga Guru Loses Bid To Copyright Poses

Bikram Yoga Guru Loses Bid To Copyright Poses

Bikram Choudhury, the man who pioneered red-hot yoga for celebrities, has lost a legal battle in the US to copyright some of his key moves.

A federal appeals court in San Francisco heard how Choudhury had sued the Evolation Yoga studio for copyright infringement, arguing that a sequence of 26 poses and two breathing exercises were his alone and the studio did not have the right to teach them.

But the court ruled the moves did not solely belong to him, saying yoga was intended to improve people's health and copyright law could not be extended to include such processes.

A copyright of the sequence would be like giving a surgeon an exclusive right to perform a complicated surgery, the court said.

Choudhury has a strong celebrity following including Madonna, Demi Moore and Chelsea Clinton for his 105F-heated-room yoga practice and has hundreds of schools around the world.

He has been in hot water before.

Six women have filed civil lawsuits in the US against him over unwanted sexual advances - which he denies.

In an interview with CNN, he said he did not need to assault anyone, because: "Women likes me. Women loves me."

When asked about his wife of 30 years' reaction to the lawsuits, Choudhury said of fellow instructor Rajashree: "My wife never look at me anymore."

The Calcutta-born yogi, who has said he has actor Shirley MacLaine to thank for helping him get started in the US, has not commented on the copyright ruling.