Bikram Choudhury ("Bikram") was sued in Federal Court by Open Source Yoga Unity ("OSYU"), a collective of yoga studios that challenged his interpretation of copyright law.  The lawsuit resulted in a confidential settlement agreement.  Any person or studio threatened by Bikram with a legal action for the violation of his intellectual property is encouraged to contact OSYU at

May 3, 2005 - FIRST CASE SETTLED

Bikram and OSYU announced today that they have settled the litigation between them involving OSYU's claim that Bikram's copyrights and trademarks relating to BIKRAM YOGA are invalid, and that Bikram engaged in copyright misuse by sending out cease and desist letters. The parties have reached a mutually satisfactory resolution of their differences, and the lawsuit has been dismissed.

Both sides expressed their pleasure that they have put this matter behind them, and look forward to working together in the future to continue to bring the benefits of yoga to the world.