OK, I'm sure you've seen that copying isn't welcome in here.
Basically, these are collector's items too. Piracy devalues games. If there's say 10 copies of a game in existence, people will pay a lot for it. How would you feel if you owned one, only to see the value plummet due to another person copying it?
Simple answer to your question - LOOK AFTER YOUR ORIGINALS. Keep them in the case when you're not playing with them. If you break the case or whatever, get a decent wallet to keep your games in. On systems that have them (Saturn, PSX, PSOne, Dreamcase - don't know about Neo CD don't have one) use the brake BEFORE you take the game out. Open the lid BEFORE turning the console off. The brake stops the disc spinning. That's why discs get those circular scratches - cuz they didn't completely stop before being handled.
Oh and FYO, it IS illegal to make backups of your games. CDs are considered much more durable - the original law (if it exists) referred to (which I believe is ONLY an american law) was primarily for magnetic storage media.
There's more to having and enjoying a game than being able to play it. There's the nice artwork, packaging, having the instructions, owning a collectable item. A "backup" is worth nothing, except a prison sentence or hefty fine (we're talking maybe $5,000 - maybe higher now). How many ORIGINAL games could you get for that??? <IMG SRC="smilies/wink.gif" border="0">