[editors notes in red: Second is a literal translation of a letter from
Attorney Frieder Roth
Gewuerzmuehlstr. 5
80538 Munich
Germany
phone (011) 49-892-2238-384
fax     (011) 4-989-2226-360 ]

download photpcopy of this letter roth_aol.pdf 150kB
[name and address of involved AA member are blanked________ ]

AOL, Stubbenbuk 3, 20459 Hamburg                                  AOL
                                                                The Bertelsmann America Online Service

Mr.
M______
via Fax

Dear Mr. M______________

regarding our recent phone conversation I attach a commitment [editors note: not to publish the big book in part or in full, or else pay a considerable fine] to be signed by you. Fax it beforehand to [011-49-89-6657-1417] (Fax:  089-6657-1417) and --important-- send the original to

We thank you for your understanding and would be glad, if you remain our customer in the future.

regards
(signed)
Dr. Jens Jepp

20359 Hamburg
[Germany]

Beforehand via Fax: 040/361 59 333 (without attachments)

Publication of a copyright protected work via
by Mr. M________ [a member of an AA big book study group]

Dear ladies and gentlemen,

we represent Anonymous Alcoholics Interest Society, Inc., Munich [AAeV, This is an incorporated legal body, counter part of AAWS]. Additionally, we are empowered by ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC. (abbreviated: AAWS, Inc.) in New York. This is a so-called membership corporation under U.S. Law. Our clients are a so-called service organization of the world-wide movement ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, which will mean something to you.

Our clients are owners of exclusive rights in the literary work "ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS", and its author is Bill Wilson [not true, the book was neither written by one single person, nor translated by one single person, both was done by a group of many AA members]. The work is copyright-protected in Germany [not true]. It is the standard textbook of the self-help alliance of anonymous alcoholics [sic], the Bible of that movement so to say. Accordingly, publication has reached meanwhile high numbers (over 40 million copies world-wide) The book was published in nearly all languages of the world [not true, 32 translations only, see GSC Final Report 1998, pg.18]. For our clients

that book is of enormous importance for business [editors note: tremendous economical value] Considerable parts of financial resources, which are at the command of ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS for the good of alcoholic addicts, come from sales revenues. Legal rights have been apportioned, so that AAWS, Inc. is sole owner of copyrights [not true] in the original work (under U.S. law full assignment of copyrights is allowed), while the German incorporation was granted an exclusive license regarding the German edition of the work.

The rights of our clients are continuously infringed by Mr. M_________ [not true, the free books are a group effort and violate no legal rights at all]  during recent years. Mr. M_________ manufactures pirate copies [not true] of the text on his own in various languages and distributes them world-wide for free. Mr. M_________ acts unlawful and is guilty [not true, German law requests: as long as no valid and final court sentence was issued nobody must be blamed "unlawful and guilty"]. He knows, already since 1994 [not true, on the contrary at that time was discovered that AAWS has no valid copyright on the book world-wide, except in Canada, and even there it is doubted], that manufacturing and distribution of "ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS" violates German Copyright Law [not true, it is "public domain"]. At this time he asked AAWS, Inc. for permission to reprint [not true, the request was about stories] in Germany, this was refused.
 

Our clients have not tolerated those unlawful infringements of rights by Mr. M____.   

1. The County Court of Berlin has issued an interim order (AZ: 16. O 79/99) on Feb23, 1999 according to a request from AAWS, Inc. [as petitioner]. It requests, Mr. M______ is forbidden to copy and/or distribute the work. This injunction includes the German edition also. A copy of said interim order is attached. The respondent in this law suit is [book manufacturer] Elsnerdruck GmbH (besides, another subsidiary of Bertelsmann Group Ltd.) has meanwhile surrendered to this request and accepted it as being final.

2. The County Court of Frankfurt has issued an court sentence (AZ: 2-03 O 478/97) on May14, 1999 in favor of the law suit filed by AAeV and requested Mr. M_______ to discontinue manufacturing and distribution of the work. Moreover Mr. M_____ was requested to denounce [editors note: other people] and to let go of all remaining copies [editors note: for entire destruction of those books]. A copy of the court sentence is attached. It is not yet in force. Mr. M_____ filed appeal.

3. Criminal prosecution Ref. No. 92 Js 12913.1/97 - 8 Ds is under way against Mr. M_____ at Inferior Court Bad Homburg v.d.H. because of copyright infringement according to Articles 106, 108 a German Copyright Act [editors note: payment of a considerable fine or up to three years prison] This criminal law suit is pending until the civil law suit at Frankfurt County Court comes to a final result. An additional criminal prosecution (AZ: 92 Js 28390- 7/98) was caused by AAWS, Inc. and is conducted by Attorney General at County Court in Frankfurt.

Everybody can download the text of the work to his computer. Besides this, people interested in the printed book are offered the possibility to order it and get it via post office mail free of charge. We attach excerpts of said Internet pages.

The requests of my clients because of copyright infringement are also directed against you company as a provider