AAWS/GSO is requesting that the PDFs of the Big Book and Daily Reflections be removed from the website. Documentation below.
Greetings from the General Service Office of Alcoholics Anonymous.
Recently, we were advised by some of our fellowship that your site contained A.A. materials which are copyrighted by Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc. (A.A.W.S.). While A.A.W.S.' copyrights are held in trust for A.A. as a whole, A.A.W.S. has a responsibility to protect these valuable A.A. assets (both in terms of contents ( i.e., preserving the integrity of the AA message), as well as otherwise). In order to meet this responsibility, A.A.W.S. must ensure that A.A.'s copyrights remain undiminished by infringing activities.
In reviewing your site, we noticed that you have included PDFs to full publications such as the fourth edition of Alcoholics Anonymous, the Big Book, and Daily Reflections under your “resources” tab. Guidelines for reprinting A.A. materials, describing what is, and what is not permissible by AA entities, are outlined in the A.A. Service Manual. Generally, only overseas GSOs are permitted (by license) to translate and/or publish A.A. copyrighted materials in their entirety e.g., complete books, booklets, or pamphlets), though A.A. entities can certainly post short excerpts of A.A. literature.
In view of the foregoing, we ask that you remove these documents, and any material that does not follow the A.A. Service Manual. The fourth edition of The Big Book is complete on aa.org, which you may link to along any other A.A. materials published there if you wish. If you have any questions about what may or may not be posted on your website, please let us know.
Warm regards,
Drew Deetz
Intellectual Property Administrator
General Service Office of Alcoholics Anonymous
475 Riverside Drive, 11th Floor
New York, NY 10115
(212) 870-3400 x 4725
www.aa.org