LOS ANGELES – Indian Yoga Guru, Bikram Choudhury, has sued his former student, Gregory Gumucio for over a million dollars. Choudhury has filed a lawsuit against Gumucio for copying his unique ‘Bikram Yoga’ style of exercises that involve workouts in a 105 degree-Fahrenheit room.
Choudhury’s lawsuit against Gumucio in a California court revolves around copyright infringement and he is seeking monetary damages of over a million dollars and is asking a federal judge to block ‘Yoga to the People’, founded by Gumucio, from offering similar hot yoga classes. Choudhury has alleged in the lawsuit that Gumucio’s yoga classes offer a ‘Traditional Hot Yoga’ regime that is identical to his ‘Bikram Yoga’, which is a 26 posture sequence, practiced in a 105 degree ‘Torture Chamber.’
The 25-page long lawsuit says, “The hot yoga class is taught in the same ambient environment as Bikram Yoga in order to give students the impression that the class offers the same experience and benefits a student would have at a Bikram Yoga studio.” The lawsuit says that Gumucio had entered into an agreement with Choudhury that prohibited him from using the Bikram Yoga brand name and trademark in any form and teaching his style of yoga to others. In the suit Choudhury also states that those aspiring to become ‘Bikram Teachers’ must take his formal 9 week, $ 7,000 course and once certified, the instructors must obtain his permission to open studios.
In his defense, Gumucio said that he had never agreed to abide by Choudhury’s rules and that was why he had parted ways with him. Gumucio also said, “I have never agreed with Bikram and his idea that he owned the yoga, or that he should sue anyone” and that his sequence of poses is not exactly the same as Choudhury’s.
What seems to be the detrimental aspect of this case is that the parties involved are dragging the centuries’ old and sacred practice of yoga into court over money. This case also questions the boundaries of intellectual property and where the line can be drawn for copyright violation. The supporters of both the parties involved want their representative to win but in the process an ancient form of art is suffering.
