Replacementdocs.com hosts full-color scans (or PDF originals) for thousands of videogames. For anyone who has rented or purchased used games, which frequently lack manuals, or simply have lost the box and documentation, this is an incredible resource ... and clearly a case of massive copyright infringement of the manuals.

It is also a resource for copyright infringement of the games themselves, in that infringing copies seldom come with full documentation. Indeed, game companies have gone after sites that host manuals for this very reason. Likely, this is the reason that Blizzard asked Replacementdocs.com to remove their manuals from the site (Manuals requested removed by game companies (i.e. - don't bother asking for these)).

Replacementdocs.com responds to this argument in their FAQ:

As for the piracy issue... What good is a manual without the software? None at all. What good is software without the manual? Plenty to most people. With this in mind we believe that the true problem of piracy is the copying and distributing of the software itself not the documentation. If you stop the software piracy then having documentation online will no longer be an issue. However, If you stop the distribution of electronic documentation, software piracy will still thrive. Besides, game companies are in the business of selling games, not selling replacement manuals for the games. And therefore, we believe this is not affecting their business. A testament to this is the increasing number of companies who freely distribute their documentation online already because they have realized that providing good customer service is more important than protecting ultimately supplemental materials. Some of these companies include Square Enix, Konami, and even Sony's and Microsoft's respective in-house game studios. But it is still woefully few compared to the available catalog of games.

In addition, many of the games listed herein are out of print and the game companies are not making money on them anymore if they even still exist. Yes, technically, they still own the copyrights to the games and manuals, but they aren't making money off of them and we're not making any money off of them. There is no profit to be lost and none to be gained. And if you're some lawyer or company drudge tracking down pirates, come on... it's really all about the money anyway, isn't it? Spend your time tracking down the software pirates that release stuff on the internet before the software hits the stores, they are the real problem.

One of the interesting things about these sorts of copyright infringements, however, is how they accomplish something that the market would be unlikely to accomplish. Sure, one could argue that those who created the site should have first gone to every copyright holder and asked for permission to do this. But the reality is that they would have been entirely ignored. Without a track record, without traffic, without money to throw around, with nothing more than an idea and an empty website, no videogame company legal department would have given Replacementdocs.com five minutes. A bit of a chicken and egg problem, and a serious one for copyright.

via BoingBoing