You can't photocopy red/black combos? 
Fotocopying a whole rulebook... YEARGH!!! The horror!
Xavi
You couldn't in ancient times. You know, the times when there where still codebooks to protect computergames (type the third word of the second paragraph from page 212 of the rulebook...).
They were printed in black on red, or one shade of grey on another. This made them impossible to copy - and next to impossible to read for that matter...
Given what todays copymachines can do, this is no longer a problem - reading these things excepted of course 
No, my point is that the only store that has Atlas gear the -day- after publication is the one that shares warehouse space with Atlas. Even the rest of the US has a slight delay.
As well as developers, writers, proof readers, reveiwers and a small host of other people.
Well, this is what I get for attempting to explain a joke...
(And, no, readers, proofreaders and writers don't actually have copies of the book before publication. They have copies of the text in a simple text format, but not the book itself. Also, reviewers don't get Ars books before publication, because Atlas works on a just in time sort of schedule, so far as I can see, where books ship when they have them. They don't sit around in a warehouse waiting for release dates, old D&D style.)
I should just point out that going through all the books you own, photocopying out the spell guidelines, hole punching them and putting them into a binder for YOUR OWN USE would be considered fair use in most countries. Your own use would likely include handing the binder to somebody to flip through during a game but would likely not include making them a photocopy of the guidelines.
Stephen