program seeking to access a TrueType font need not submit a password or
complete an authorization sequence to access, use or copy TrueType Fonts.^1137The Microsoft TrueType Font specification defined four levels of embedding bit
restrictions: Restricted (font cannot be embedded); Print & Preview (font can be embedded but
the document must be opened as read-only and no edits may be applied to the document),
Editable (font can be embedded and the document may be opened for reading and editing), and
Installable.^1138 Acrobat 5.0 made it possible for the first time to embed in the “form field” or
“free text annotation” of a PDF document^1139 any TrueType Font whose embedding bit was not
set to “Restricted,” including fonts whose embedding bit was set to “Print and Preview.” This
capability of Acrobat 5.0 was referred to as the “Any Font Feature.”^1140
The plaintiffs contended that the Any Font Feature resulted in “editable embedding,”
because a recipient of a PDF file with embedded fonts could use the fonts to change the contents
of a form field or free text annotation. The plaintiffs further contended that such editable
embedding was possible only because Acrobat 5.0 allowed the embedding bits set by the
plaintiffs to be “circumvented” in violation of the DMCA.^1141
The court rejected the plaintiffs’ claims under both Sections 1201(a)(2) and 1201(b)(1) of
the DMCA. With respect to Section 1201(a)(2), the court ruled that the plaintiffs’ embedding
bits did not effectively control access to the TrueType fonts. The court found that an embedding
bit was a passive entity that did nothing by itself. Embedding bits were not encrypted, scrambled
or authenticated, and software applications such as Acrobat 5.0 did not need to enter a password
or authorization sequence to obtain access to the embedding bits or the specification for the
TrueType font (which was publicly available for free download from the Internet). The
embedding bits therefore did not, in their ordinary course of operation, require the application of
information, or a process or a treatment, with the authority of the copyright owner, to gain access
to the plaintiffs’ TrueType fonts, as required by Section 1201(a)(3)(B) in order for a
technological measure to effectively protect access to a copyrighted work.^1142
In addition, the court ruled that Acrobat 5.0 did not contain technology, components or
parts that were primarily designed to circumvent TrueType embedding bits. The court found
that Acrobat 5.0 had many commercially significant purposes other than to circumvent
embedding bits, even if it did circumvent them. The purpose of the embedded font capability in
Acrobat 5.0 was so that electronic documents could look exactly the same when printed and
(^1137) Id. at 1031.
(^1138) Id. at 1031-32.
(^1139) A PDF form field was designed to allow a recipient to complete an electronic form and electronically return the
information inputted on the form to the creator. A PDF free text annotation was designed to allow recipient to
insert comments into the PDF document that could be viewed by the creator when electronically returned. Id. at
1033.
(^1140) Id. at 1032.
(^1141) Id. at 1034.
(^1142) Id. at 1036-37.