Member Avatar for noshdb

I have pruchased a e-book (text book for training) which is a PDF document with security settings that stop you from cutting and pasting. I tried to use adobe acrobat 8 pro to change these settings, but I need a password to change the security settings. I think it is unfortunate that I have purchased the book and cannot copy paste items for my own study notes.

  • 7 Contributors
  • 8 Replies
  • 295 Views
  • 3 Years Discussion Span
  • Latest Post Latest Post by caperjack

Dani AI

Generated

Short summary and legal/technical reality: purchased PDFs can be locked with two different passwords (a document‑open password and a permissions/owner password). Acrobat and other viewers enforce the permissions password so you cannot change “copy/print” restrictions unless the owner password is supplied; that is an author/designer control, not a missing Acrobat feature. Attempting to defeat those restrictions with cracking tools raises legal and contractual risks under the DMCA anti‑circumvention rules and vendor terms, and may be both unlawful and brittle (it can break the file). (community.adobe.com)

Practical, lawful steps to try next: (1) Confirm the file’s restrictions in Acrobat’s Document Properties / Security (it will tell you which actions are disallowed). (2) Contact the seller or publisher support and ask for an unlocked or accessible copy (publishers frequently supply instructor or accessibility versions on request). (3) If the need is accessibility‑related (visual impairment, dyslexia, etc.), point the vendor to the legal accessibility frameworks and request an accessible format; international and U.S. law and rulemaking recognize limited exemptions and channels for accessibility. (4) If you only need small excerpts for study, consider fair‑use practices (quote/paraphrase with citation) rather than bulk copying. These are the lawful, reliable routes. (community.adobe.com)

Notes on suggestions already in the thread: ’s “password cracker” proposal is risky and not recommended; and were right that conversion/OCR can work when you legally can open the file, but DRM/restrictions or encrypted scans may block those workflows. If the publisher gives permission (or supplies the password), Acrobat Pro can remove security and export text safely; otherwise avoid circumvention tools. For policy background and why the law is complicated, see the Copyright Office’s Section 1201 rulemaking and civil‑society commentary. (copyright.gov)

Recommended Answers

All 8 Replies

Member Avatar for compdoc

your only choice is to use a password cracker to crack the password and unlock the e-book

Member Avatar for steven woodman

Or you could use a program such as omni-page to convert the pdf to text and then copy from that, however it may be easier just to type the stuff. there are many programs that can convert scans and pdf's to text.

Member Avatar for Techwriter10

I have pruchased a e-book (text book for training) which is a PDF document with security settings that stop you from cutting and pasting. I tried to use adobe acrobat 8 pro to change these settings, but I need a password to change the security settings. I think it is unfortunate that I have purchased the book and cannot copy paste items for my own study notes.

You could also try saving it as a text or Word document. It won't be perfect, but it should be enough for studying.

Member Avatar for steven woodman

that do look good dude. i might end up using that one sometime.

Member Avatar for authortruth

Of course, all these suggestions are illegal.

And for you to even ask how to change the COPYRIGHT protection of the author suggests that you are looking to do something illegal with the book.

SHAME ON YOU.

Member Avatar for authortruth

Not to mention it's just lazy of you not to write your notes but have to cut & paste. Really??? It's that's difficult for you.

Member Avatar for caperjack

Not to mention it's just lazy of you not to write your notes but have to cut & paste. Really??? It's that's difficult for you.

hi, you are right of course but this thread is over 3yrs old

Edited by caperjack because: n/a
Be a part of the DaniWeb community

We're a friendly, industry-focused community of developers, IT pros, digital marketers, and technology enthusiasts meeting, networking, learning, and sharing knowledge.