A Course in Miracles (public domain version)
The four-volume Freeperson Press edition of A Course in Miracles published in 1975 is in the public domain of the United States of America.
The copyright by Foundation for Parasensory Investigation (predecessor of Foundation for Inner Peace) was found to be invalid in 2003. All 4 volumes have been scanned and are freely available for download:
Text for A Course in Miracles, Volume One
- Download: freepersontextvol1.pdf
- Size: 5.9 MB (6147877 bytes)
- SHA-256: 6c166d52de776d69c7349b72dceb1d6473383ff6235064c306b741c0da93fe90
Text for A Course in Miracles, Volume Two
- Download: freepersontextvol2.pdf
- Size: 8.4 MB (8828308 bytes)
- SHA-256: 8592a237ef75a0fa8bbe36f712523e74a590131530472f1bb0a4918c248ad872
Workbook for A Course in Miracles
- Download: freeperson_workbook.pdf
- Size: 8.0 MB (8349693 bytes)
- SHA-256: b11d2ee3331733c563773e8df9ea83c930b2228e1d4e144dc05e789db6aa6bab
Teacher's Manual for A Course in Miracles
- Download: freeperson_manual.pdf
- Size: 4.8 MB (4984604 bytes)
- SHA-256: 7dc117805f02f5fda58776883849dba0754ec1e838c97248d930a5dad445957a
Notes
openACIM.org was launched on November 5, 2011 with only the Text, Volume Two. As of August 6, 2014, the site is finally complete, with meticulous scans of every single page from all four volumes, including covers.
The blank page (front and back) between pages 214 and 215 of the Workbook was in the original.
The previous unsigned and undated copy of Judge Sweet's opinion (03-08697.pdf, SHA-256: 421e209772f90db5c452ecc157849ff1c603d569eb3880793dfbc3adebdc9deb) has been replaced with the signed, dated, and stamped copy (OPINION-89252.pdf, SHA-256: 7a0e851c6ccf252e842550069255f6db8ec3256a3f3ad2026b7281b0982c6925) obtained directly from the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York in 2017.
In November 2023, a small collection of Course quotes was privately published. This compilation, titled The Ancient Melody: Notes from A Course in Miracles, is in the public domain of the United States.
FAQ
1. I'm having trouble downloading the files.
Right click links and select:
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2. I'm having trouble opening the PDF files.
Most PDF viewers should work, but optimizations compatible with Adobe Acrobat Reader 8 and higher have been applied to the files.
3. What is SHA-256?
It is a member of the SHA-2 cryptographic hash functions which can be used for file verification:
| Operating System |
Terminal Command |
| GNU/Linux |
sha256sum filename |
| OpenBSD |
sha256 filename |
| OS X / macOS |
shasum -a 256 filename |
| Windows |
certutil -hashfile filename SHA256 |
4. I thought the Freeperson Press edition (also known as the "Criswell edition" after the publisher, Eleanor Criswell) had a yellow cover?
According to page 16 of Judge Sweet's October 24, 2003 opinion dismissing complaint and granting judgment invalidating the copyright,
"The first edition of 100 copies of the Criswell edition was bound with a yellow cover ... Following distribution of the first edition, the defendants made a second Criswell edition with a white cover, and a third edition of the Criswell edition followed with a blue cover."
5. Where does the Freeperson Press edition fit within the early versions of the Course?
The general outline is as follows (see The Earlier Versions and the Editing of A Course In Miracles and ACIM Family Tree for more detail):
- Notebooks: Helen Schucman's handwritten notes (1965-1972)
- Urtext: Bill Thetford's typed version from Helen's dictation of her notes (1965-1972)
- Hugh Lynn Cayce: edited by Helen and Bill; one of the few copies made was presented to Hugh Lynn Cayce at Edgar Cayce' s Association for Research and Enlightenment (1972)
- Nun's version: edited by Helen and Ken Wapnick; typed by nuns at Maryknoll (1975)
- Freeperson Press (aka Criswell) version: photo-reduced copy of Nun's version (1975)
- Foundation for Inner Peace (FIP) first edition: 3-volume blue cloth hardback set printed by Saul Steinberg's company, Coleman Graphics (1976)
6. Where can I learn more about the copyright issue?
7. How can I contact the site administrator?
Via email: mail at openacim dot org
Colophon
Scanning and post-processing tools used for the Freeperson Press volumes:
- on all four volumes: Adobe Acrobat XI Pro - PDF optimization and metadata removal
- on Text, vols. 1 & 2 and Workbook: Fujitsu ScanSnap S1300 with bundled ScanSnap Manager
- on Text, vol. 2 and Teacher's Manual: Pdftk - PDF metadata removal
- on Teacher's Manual:
- on superseded scans: