--- title: Bikram Choudhury Can't Copyright His Yoga Poses description: Bikram Choudhury can no longer criticize yoga studios that use his signature sequence of yoga poses, according to a Thursday court ruling canonical: https://time.com/4067618/bikram-choudhury-yoga-copyright/ author: Joanna Plucinska article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-10-09T08:10:05.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:02:24.120Z article:section: Health og:title: Court Says Bikram Choudhury Can't Copyright His Yoga Poses og:description: Choudhury is famous for teaching in nothing but a tight black speedo. og:url: https://time.com/4067618/bikram-choudhury-yoga-copyright/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb5dca440935e673d/698867980a4a2236119c67c8/540440583.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 594 og:image:height: 334 og:image:alt: Bikram Choudhury Teaches Yoga Class og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Court Says Bikram Choudhury Can't Copyright His Yoga Poses twitter:description: Choudhury is famous for teaching in nothing but a tight black speedo. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb5dca440935e673d/698867980a4a2236119c67c8/540440583.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # A Court Has Ruled That Bikram Choudhury Can't Copyright His Yoga Poses > Sponsored content. 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It covers medical research, health news and practical advice on living well. #### Where can I get reliable health news by email? Health Matters is TIME's daily health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free daily newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ## Video: We Tried This: Aerial Vinyasa Yoga [Watch (HLS stream): We Tried This: Aerial Vinyasa Yoga](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/68PN7sJl.m3u8) (1:28)  _Published 2012-08-20. A total body workout while you hang from a hammock._ by [Joanna Plucinska](https://time.com/author/joanna-plucinska/) ## Joanna Plucinska Oct 9, 2015 8:10 AM UTC  Bikram Choudhury instructs his yoga class in heated room in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Feb. 2, 2000 Bikram Choudhury instructs his yoga class in heated room in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Feb. 2, 2000 Bob Riha Jr—Getty Images by [Joanna Plucinska](https://time.com/author/joanna-plucinska/) ## Joanna Plucinska Oct 9, 2015 8:10 AM UTC Bikram Choudhury, the self-styled creator of Bikram yoga, has for years [threatened](http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-yoga-poses-ruling-20151008-story.html) to sue practitioners that he feels are copying his signature yoga poses. However, a court ruled on Thursday that he has no legal right to do so. Choudhury first wrote about his famed yoga sequence — comprising 26 poses done over the course of 90 minutes in a hot room — in a book published more than three decades ago. The 69-year-old has since claimed that, under copyright law, he is the only one who has the right to teach that particular variation of poses, leading him to threaten multiple yoga practitioners with lawsuits, reports the Los Angeles [_Times_](http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-yoga-poses-ruling-20151008-story.html). Choudhury’s most recent legal case involved Evolation Yoga, a Florida-based studio that the magnate accused of copyright violations. A three-judge panel on the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has now disagreed with him after he appealed a district judge’s ruling in favor of Evolation. The judges clearly stated that his sequence cannot be protected by copyright law, the _Times_ reports. “Copyright protects only the expression of this idea — the words and pictures used to describe the sequence — and not the idea of the sequence itself,” Judge Kim McLane Wardlaw, one of the judges on the panel, wrote. Choudhury is notorious for teaching his classes in nothing but a tight black speedo and a gold Rolex watch. Most recently, the Kolkata native has been facing with a slew of sexual-assault claims, according to the [_Guardian_](http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/feb/27/hot-yoga-founder-bikram-choudhury-faces-more-claims). (Choudhury has denied any impropriety.) \[[_LAT_](http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-yoga-poses-ruling-20151008-story.html)\] ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] This is Aerial Vinasa. Using the strength of your thighs to control. A type of fusion yoga that combines traditional Vinyasa Yoga, with the art of aerial dance. [ MUSIC ] One of the things about the hammocks is that you're gonna be using muscles in different ways than you would in your regular Vinyasa class. And exhale right. I'm Alexandra Sifferlin for Time. I decided to visit the OM Factory in Manhattan, and see how these hammocks add to the yoga experience. So say for a warrior three pose, right, which is usually a challenge for a lot of people. So with the hammocks we can actually use it as a tool to stabilize the upper body and that way we can work on squaring the hips towards the ground. This fusion still maintains the basic elements of Vinyasa Yoga, letting your breath guide the movement. And as you exhale, just release, sink into the fabric and let it help you stretch. The result is better controlled movements as you strengthen your core muscles. Pull yourself all the way up to stand. And as I discovered, using a hammock adds one very important element to a yoga class. In a regular yoga class sometimes you forget to have fun and to smile, and the hammock really brings out the kid, in, in the yogi. You guys are troopers. I like it. 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