Bikram Choudhury: Settlement in air

Washington, May 14: Calcutta-born yoga instructor Bikram Choudhury’s three-year effort to copyright his yoga techniques has been finally foiled by a coalition of yoga studios in the US.

Choudhury, who counts celebrities such as Madonna, Gywneth Paltrow and Shirley Maclaine among the followers of “Bikram yoga” or “hot yoga”, has reached a settlement with a coalition of yoga professionals who challenged his copyright attempts, the Open Source Yoga Unity (OSYU) announced.

Although the terms of the settlement are confidential, sources associated with the dispute have let it be known that Choudhury will not sue 50 or so yoga studios in the US to whom he had earlier sent “cease and desist” letters asking them to stop teaching the same form of yoga that his private school and about 1,200 “Bikram studios” in America have been specialising in.

In return, members of the coalition have agreed not to advertise the name “Bikram” in any publicity associated with their yoga practice without specific authorisation by Choudhury. The coalition has maintained ever since Choudhury sent out his earliest “cease and desist” letters on June 5, 2002, that yoga, which is a rage in America now, cannot be copyrighted.

Choudhury obtained a copyright for his asana sequence in February 2003.

Madonna, Gywneth Paltrow: Hot yoga followers

If the settlement had not been reached, a landmark trial would have started on June 20 to determine whether Choudhury’s package of 26 poses and two breathing exercises, performed over 90 minutes in rooms heated at 44 degrees Celsius ? to recreate an Indian environment ? could be copyrighted and protected in court.

OYSU said following the settlement “both sides expressed their pleasure that they have put this matter behind them”. Michael Page, lawyer for the coalition said “we have reached a mutually satisfactory resolution and we look forward to working together in the future to continue bringing the benefits of yoga to the world”.

Susan Hollander, who represented Choudhury, told a law journal that she was pleased with the settlement.

Choudhury lives in the posh residential area of Beverly Hills near Hollywood and is known here for his collection of expensive Bentleys and Rolls Royces. He has been often described in America’s celebrity press as the “Bill Gates of yoga” ever since his sequence of “hot yoga” poses saw a surge in popularity in recent years, especially among the rich and famous here.

Choudhury, 59, has lived in the US for three decades and founded his Yoga College of India in Los Angeles in 1974.