Great, great thread on PrintPlanet what to do (and also should you do it?) when the designer sends in a password-protected PDF file and refuses to give you the damn password.

To make a long story short with regard to the technical solution, Apple’s color sync utility allows you to open up the PDF files and strip out the password. Thank you, Apple.

Of course, there is also heated discussion on the copyright issue. Essentially, under copyright law, a printer can be held liable for damages for cracking the PDF file as the designer holds copyright. The thread is very interesting as there are arguments made for both sides.

My take on the subject? Well, my experience with legal matters is this: Is it better to allow damages to occur to you (or your company, or your customer - whatever) and then try to recover your damages in court OR is it better to protect your interests at the present time and risk being sued for whatever at a future time?

Yeah, that’s what I thought too.

With regard to the moral issues of copyright, I trained as a journalist in university, then spent a fair bit of time at Creo in the software divsion. There is no way to avoid appearing just a little bit cynical about this matter so I’m just going to say it: There is no moral issues whatsoever with regard to copyright, except perhaps when the RIAA goes after some wee old grandmother who downloaded the birthday song from the internet to play to her grandson.

Look! A month of free movies from Blockbuster: