Media Category: Meeting Resources

Copyright Procedures and Guidelines for OA-Owned Material (Copyright)

All OA literature, including digital media, is protected under US copyright law, and the copyrights are owned by Overeaters Anonymous, Inc. No one, including OA members, groups, or service bodies, can legally reprint or reproduce digital media or excerpts from OA literature or material without written permission from the World Service Office. (See exceptions below.) All reprinted or reproduced OA-owned material must include an OA copyright credit. See the Reprint Permission Form for additional policies.

To apply for reprint permission, use this form:

• Reprint Permission Form

Allow 10 working days for approval. You will receive the form back from the World Service Office affixed with the managing director’s signature, indicating permission has been granted.

Procedures and Guidelines for OA Trademarks (Logos)

OA, Inc. owns the trademarks for the names “Overeaters Anonymous” and “OA”, the logo art, and the logotype. To use an OA trademark, your group’s registration number or service body’s registered name must be printed directly below the trademark to distinguish it from material originating from world service. It is essential the registration mark ® appears with OA’s trademarks. Any registered OA service body may apply for blanket permission. It is the responsibility of the service body to renew its trademark-use permission after the expiration date. See the Logo Request Form for additional policies.

To apply for trademark-use permission, use this form:

• Logo Request Form
• Logo Request Form (editable DOCX version)

Allow ten working days for approval. You will receive the form back from the World Service Office affixed with the managing director’s signature, indicating permission has been granted.

Items not needing written permission

All registered OA groups and service bodies have permission to reprint or translate and reprint any OA print material currently on the OA website (downloadable PDF files or text) without having to submit a written request to the World Service Office. The materials listed below may also be reprinted or translated and reprinted without written permission. Reprinted items must be used in a manner consistent with OA’s mission of carrying our message of recovery to those suffering from compulsive eating and compulsive eating behaviors.

When reprinting OA website material, use one of these copyright credits:

• When reprinting English-language OA material, cite the source and include the following: “[Source] © Overeaters Anonymous, Inc. All rights reserved.”
• When reprinting translated OA material cite the source and include the following in the language of the translation: “This is a translation of OA-approved [source]. © [date of translation] Overeaters Anonymous, Inc. All rights reserved.”

Registered OA groups and service bodies may also reprint these items without written permission:

• The Twelve Steps of OA
• The Twelve Traditions of OA
• The Twelve Concepts of OA Service
• The OA Preamble
• The OA Promise (I Put My Hand in Yours)
• The Responsibility Pledge
• Fifteen Questions
• About OA (flyer)
• “Welcome Home” from Taste of Lifeline, pp. xiii-xvi
• Articles posted on A Step Ahead News
• The Professional Community Courier
• The WSO News Bulletin
• Preview images automatically generated by social media platforms when a uniform resource locator (URL) from an OA website is shared in a social media post
• Image-based digital content that OA has designated for public information and professional outreach (PIPO) use
• Image based content that has been clearly marked as having been created by an OA member
• Many well-known slogans and sayings (such as “one day at a time,” “easy does it” and the Serenity Prayer) require no approval.

When reprinting free downloaded material from the OA website, remember these documents are updated often. If your group or service body posts or distributes a free download, we encourage you to check oa.org regularly for updated material.

Translation Permission

All registered OA groups and service bodies have permission to translate and reprint any OA document or text currently on the OA website. Permission includes the right to distribute automatically translated material and the right to correct errors in automatic translations. Translation corrections should be as close as possible to the meaning of the original English text, with nothing added or omitted.

• Translated materials must include this statement in the language of the translation: “This is a translation of OA-approved literature. © Overeaters Anonymous, Inc. All rights reserved.”

To translate OA documents with significant graphic design, see Free Licensed Images, Translation, and Graphic Design Platform for Intergroups and Service Boards Registered as Nonprofits/Charities.

Groups and service bodies that translate OA literature and material are required to provide a digital copy of the published translation to the World Service Office. The digital copy can be in PDF or text format and should include the English-language name of the translated material, the language of translation, and the group’s or service body’s name and registration number.

Lifeline Content Not Needing Written Permission

Registered OA groups and service bodies may also reprint or translate and reprint Lifeline recovery content (member-submitted articles and images) without written permission under these terms:

• The reprinted content is from a past edition of print Lifeline or currently posted on Lifeline: Stories of Recovery (lifeline.oa.org and oalifeline.org).
• The reprinted content is for limited personal and/or group use. Specifically:
  • The reprinted is used for personal recovery, for sponsor/sponsee discussion, or as the focus of an OA meeting.
  • Reprinted recovery content shared on screen during an OA videoconference meeting is removed from the videoconference at the end of the meeting. (See Sharing OA-Copyright Material Electronically: A letter from the OA Board of Trustees to the Fellowship.)
  • Reprinted recovery content cannot be printed in full on online platforms. To share online, use the direct uniform resource locator (URL) to the recovery content or the respective “share” button on the recovery content’s page. The online platform may automatically generate a preview image of the content, which is allowed.
  • Reprints of image-based content (photographs and illustrations) from print and online Lifeline clearly marked as member created can be shared. Images not clearly marked cannot be reprinted unless automatically generated by the above-stated “preview” feature.
• The reprinted article must be used in a manner consistent with OA’s mission of carrying our message of recovery to those suffering from compulsive eating and compulsive eating behaviors.
• Lifeline recovery content cannot be revised, recombined, or sold.
• Articles included in OA compilations of Lifeline articles, including but not limited to Taste of Lifeline and Lifeline Sampler, must receive written permission. To apply for reprint permission, use the Reprint Permission Form.
• Reprinted Lifeline recovery content must cite the source (Lifeline) and include the Overeaters Anonymous, Inc. copyright.
  • For reprints from print Lifeline, use this copyright format: Lifeline [issue month and year], © Overeaters Anonymous, Inc. All rights reserved.
  • For reprints from online Lifeline, use this copyright format: Lifeline: Stories of Recovery, [year] © Overeaters Anonymous, Inc. All rights reserved.

Audio Recordings

Registered groups and service bodies wishing to create a lending library of digital media may request permission to duplicate a CD or digital file using the reprint request procedures above. Approval will allow the group/service body to keep one master recording and one copy to lend to members. Recordings sold by the World Service Office or its designated vendor, including recordings created at World Service Business Conference and World Service Convention or sold via the OA bookstore, whether on CD or in other formats, may not be duplicated and distributed via website or other media, except in the case of radio and television public service announcements, which may be duplicated without written permission for public information purposes.

Guidelines for Using Non-OA-Owned Material and Trademarks

Copyright and trademark laws apply to all forms of media, including print, promotional materials, digital content, and social media. Using content without written permission constitutes an “infringement”—the unauthorized use of someone else’s work, violating their copyright or trademark rights. For guidance on complying with intellectual property laws and preventing infringement, see Guidelines for Using Copyrighted Material and Trademarks.

OA Responsibility Pledge

Always to extend the hand and heart of OA
to all who share my compulsion;
for this I am responsible.

© 2021, 2025 Overeaters Anonymous, Inc. All rights reserved.

Overeaters Anonymous, Inc. World Service Office
Location: 6075 Zenith Court NE, Rio Rancho, NM 87144, USA
Mailing address: PO Box 44727, Rio Rancho, NM 87174-4727, USA
Telephone: +1 505-891-2664

Each group may modify these guidelines to better suit its meeting’s needs. Use these suggestions before or after a regular OA meeting or during an OA meeting if the newcomer would like to move to a separate room for a short informational meeting.

Purpose

Provide a warm welcome to newcomers. Give them hope and a place where they know they are accepted and understood. Provide enough information to prepare newcomers for a regular OA meeting. Let them ask questions.

Focus on the Newcomer

The meeting is informal, and questions from newcomers are encouraged at any time, even while the leader or speaker is talking. Allow newcomers to share about how they found OA, why they are here, and their history with food. Ask if they took the quiz on oa.org.

Leader Duties

• Open the meeting and explain the purpose of this meeting.
• Introduce yourself as the leader of the meeting and ask everyone to introduce themselves by their first name.
• Provide a local meeting list or explain how newcomers can find other local and virtual meetings on Find a Meeting at oa.org.
• Provide a copy of the pamphlet Where Do I Start? Everything a Newcomer Needs to Know or explain how to download the free PDF from the Document Library at oa.org.
• Invite members to provide newcomers with contact information. Invite newcomers to do the same.
• Optional: Read “Welcome Home” from the book A Taste of Lifeline. [Abridged version on oa.org.]

Speaker Duties

• Speak for five to ten minutes, focusing on your experience, strength, and hope, as well as information that was helpful to you when you were a newcomer.
• Encourage and accept questions at any time during your share.

Suggested Topics of Discussion

Twelve Step Program

Ask if newcomers are familiar with Twelve Step programs, and tailor your remarks accordingly. Explain that OA is a Twelve Step program patterned after Alcoholics Anonymous.

Anonymity

Assure newcomers that their anonymity will be respected, and their participation and sharing will be held in confidence.

Tradition Three

Emphasize that “The only requirement for OA membership is a desire to stop eating compulsively.”

Disease

Explain that compulsive eating is a disease. We are not immoral, weak-willed, bad, or unlovable; and we are not alone. OA welcomes all who struggle with food—overeaters, under-eaters, food addicts, anorexics, bulimics, binge eaters, overexercisers, and those with other compulsive food behaviors.

Our common problem (and solution) is threefold: physical, emotional, and spiritual.

The disease is progressive in nature, characterized by an obsession of the mind and compulsive behaviors.

We have found that compulsive eating cannot be controlled by willpower, but can be arrested, one day at a time. Our “prescription” for recovery is abstinence and working the Twelve Steps.

Abstinence and Recovery

In OA, abstinence is the action of refraining from compulsive eating and compulsive food behaviors while working towards or maintaining a healthy body weight. Spiritual, emotional, and physical recovery is the result of living and working the Overeaters Anonymous Twelve Step program on a daily basis.

OA is not a diet and calories club.

OA members have different plans of eating and different binge foods. OA does not endorse any particular plan of eating. The Where Do I Start? pamphlet or online document does provide some sample plans of eating, and we encourage you to seek guidance from your health care professional.

We have found freedom from food obsession by working the Twelve Steps and living by their Spiritual Principles.

The OA Tools of Recovery help us work the Steps and refrain from compulsive eating and compulsive food behaviors. The nine Tools are: a plan of eating, sponsorship, meetings, telephone, writing, literature, an action plan, anonymity, and service.

Primary Purpose

Our primary purpose is to abstain from compulsive eating and compulsive food behaviors and to carry the message of recovery through the Twelve Steps to those who still suffer.

Sponsorship

Explain the importance of getting a sponsor, how to find one, and the action of working the Twelve Steps with a sponsor.

Spiritual, Not Religious

The OA program of recovery is a spiritual program, not a religious one. We believe in a Higher Power to help guide our recovery.

• It is important to be open-minded, teachable, and willing to follow the OA program of recovery to the best of our ability.
• Members have a range of spiritual beliefs; some members are atheists or agnostic.

What to Expect at an OA Meeting

• Explain what cross talk during a meeting is and why it is discouraged.
• Explain what the Twelve Traditions are and why they are important. Explain what the Seventh Tradition is, and how we are self-supporting through our own contributions.
• Explain that the opinions expressed here today are those of individual OA members and do not represent OA as a whole.
• Explain the different types of OA-approved literature and how to purchase them.
• Explain that we only use OA-approved literature during our meetings.

Closing

Say, “Will those who wish, please join me in the Serenity Prayer:

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.”

OA Responsibility Pledge

Always to extend the hand and heart of OA
to all who share my compulsion;
for this I am responsible.

---

 OA-board approved
© 2023 Overeaters Anonymous, Inc. All rights reserved.

Overeaters Anonymous, Inc. World Service Office
Location: 6075 Zenith Court NE, Rio Rancho, NM 87144, USA
Mailing address: PO Box 44727, Rio Rancho, NM 87174-4727, USA
Telephone: +1 505-891-2664