Information on the manuscript litigation
Communication from GSO on the Manuscript Litigation
The following email was sent to all the 68th General Service Conference Members on February 20, 2018 from G. Gregory Tobin, General Manager, General Service Office of A.A. Please contact me if you have any questions. In Service – Joe S., Delegate, P67/A47 CNY
Dear General Service Conference Members:
For some time, the General Service Board has been involved in litigation concerning the Printer’s Copy Manuscript of Alcoholics Anonymous. The Board has been in communication with Conference members throughout the year, whenever possible, and many of you have shared your thoughts on this matter. In our continuing effort to keep you up to date, we are pleased to share the following information relative to the successful resolution of this litigation.
Today a stipulation was filed with the New York State Supreme Court by A.A.W.S. to voluntarily dismiss the case between Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc. and the holder of the 1939 Printer’s Copy Manuscript of Alcoholics Anonymous, our Big Book. This stipulation was submitted in conjunction with the parties agreeing to settle and mutually release each other from the litigation.
The parties have reached an agreement and believe this to be in their best interests. The General Service Board of Alcoholics Anonymous has approved a settlement and mutual release agreement in order to avoid the further expense, inconvenience, and uncertainty of continuing litigation. As the result of the agreement, A.A.W.S. waives any claims to ownership of the Manuscript and will pay $135,000 to reimburse a portion of the holder’s out-of-pocket costs, expenses and legal fees associated with the action.
The Boards understand that some members of the Fellowship will have many further specific questions about this legal issue. The Boards will be prepared to discuss their decisions and actions in the near future. At this time, we ask that you direct any questions and comments about the settlement to the Public Information desk at the General Service Office, so that all inquiries can be captured and responded to appropriately.
Looking forward to continuing discussion on this important matter.
Yours in service and fellowship,
G. Gregory Tobin
General Manager
General Service Office of A.A.
So who ends up with the printers copy of the manuscript since itvorigionsllycame from stepping stones archives?
Serves uu right we’re lucky they didn’t win a larger judgement
We got lucky it wasn’t to a larger settlement we had no business being in court
This settlement ads insult to injury this matter should have been brought to the membership for an informed group conscience at least area delegate vote
How could you possibly be “pleased to share the following” and how are we measuring success when a “successful resolution of this litigation” = “A.A.W.S. waives any claims to ownership of the Manuscript and will pay $135,000…”.
perde uma coisa que está provado pelo papel que BARRY deixou que o original é nosso , perde o original e paga mais 135 mil dólares e acha que tá bom , não está cheirando bem e aqui no brasil ninguém comenta ou sabe sobre isso , o world service devia mandar mais literatura das verdades de A.A. porque o pobre coitado aqui fica acreditando em uma coisa que não é pura verdade , funciona mas depois que você para de beber nunca vai voltar aquela maravilha e nós ficamos nos enganando nas reuniões e tudo tá bom , eu só tenho 3 anos de grupo , mas tem uns de 40 anos
Esmeraldo’s comment is in Portuguese. An automated translation is:
“lose something that is proven by the role BARRY let the original is ours, it loses the original and paid over 135 thousand US dollars and think okay, is not well and here smelling in Brazil nobody comments or know about it, the world service should send more literature of AA truths because the poor guy is here believing in something that is not quite true, it works but once you stop drinking will never return this marvel and we were fooling ourselves in meetings and everything okay, I I only have 3 years group, but it has some 40 years “