# Reminder: Change Copyright Year to 2022

**URL:** <https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/reminder-change-copyright-year-to-2022/41899>\
**Category:** RapidWeaver Classic\
**Created:** [January 1, 2022, 6:14pm UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/reminder-change-copyright-year-to-2022/41899 "2022-01-01T18:14:37Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![YankeeLaker](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/forums.realmacsoftware.com/yankeelaker/32/16347_2.png) [@YankeeLaker](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/YankeeLaker)\
**Post date:** [January 1, 2022, 6:14pm UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/reminder-change-copyright-year-to-2022/41899/1 "2022-01-01T18:14:37Z")

</div>

Just a reminder: If you have used copyright notices (©2021) on your sites, change them to ©2022.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![forbesrodney](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/forums.realmacsoftware.com/forbesrodney/32/20067_2.png) [@forbesrodney](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/forbesrodney)\
**Post date:** [January 1, 2022, 8:30pm UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/reminder-change-copyright-year-to-2022/41899/2 "2022-01-01T20:30:35Z")

</div>

That’s not my understanding of how copyright notices are supposed to work. You should put the year in which what you are copyrighting was initially written, not continually update it and not a range.

If someone has definitive proof that this is wrong, please show me.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Rovertek](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/forums.realmacsoftware.com/rovertek/32/223_2.png) [@Rovertek](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/Rovertek)\
**Post date:** [January 2, 2022, 8:56am UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/reminder-change-copyright-year-to-2022/41899/3 "2022-01-02T08:56:47Z")

</div>

At first, I liked your post. But then, I noticed this snippet:

> not a range

I think a range is fine. If a website is more than a year old, chances are that not all articles were written in the same year. Therefore, a range of copyrighted articles from oldest to newest ones is perfectly logical and acceptable, if used in the context of the website as the whole. If you want to be specially pedantic, you can mark single articles as copyrighted with an exact date of creation.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![instacks](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/forums.realmacsoftware.com/instacks/32/23339_2.png) [@instacks](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/instacks)\
**Post date:** [January 2, 2022, 9:54am UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/reminder-change-copyright-year-to-2022/41899/4 "2022-01-02T09:54:18Z")

</div>

I doubt you “need” a date at all.

There are also differences between private persons/authors and organizations.

More interestingly, what would you do after examining someone copies content from your website? Claiming such is, afaik, quite difficult.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![joemart1951](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/forums.realmacsoftware.com/joemart1951/32/1193_2.png) [@joemart1951](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/joemart1951)\
**Post date:** [January 2, 2022, 10:58am UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/reminder-change-copyright-year-to-2022/41899/5 "2022-01-02T10:58:40Z")

</div>

And so different in USA…not near as complicated!

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Heroic\_Nonsense](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/forums.realmacsoftware.com/heroic_nonsense/32/20666_2.png) [@Heroic\_Nonsense](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/Heroic_Nonsense)\
**Post date:** [January 2, 2022, 11:18am UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/reminder-change-copyright-year-to-2022/41899/6 "2022-01-02T11:18:18Z")

</div>

Copyright regulations differ per country. Generally, you automatically gain the copyright just by creating the content, but it doesn’t last forever. Eventually everything will enter the public domain.

The copyright message isn’t there to let people know you claim copyright (you have that right unless you release it under a different licence), but to let people know _when_ you created the content.

Depending on where you are in the world and how successful Disney is in lobbying in your part of the world (they keep lobbying to extend the period so Mickey Mouse doesn’t enter the public domain), your copyright to your content could last for several decades after you pass away. By time stamping your content, no one can claim your content is so old that it should be in the public domain.

Then again, no website is currently old enough to be in the public domain, even if it was created at the very dawn of the World Wide Web and the creator passed away five minutes after that 😉

As @Rovertek mentioned, if you have a collection of contents made in different years, then a range is appropriate. You can’t just extend the copyright of a single work by upping the © notice every January 1st though; you would need to change or extend the content for that to be valid.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![instacks](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/forums.realmacsoftware.com/instacks/32/23339_2.png) [@instacks](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/instacks)\
**Post date:** [January 2, 2022, 11:22am UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/reminder-change-copyright-year-to-2022/41899/7 "2022-01-02T11:22:48Z")

</div>

@Heroic_Nonsense

Thanks, perfect answer 😃👍

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![peterdanckwerts](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/forums.realmacsoftware.com/peterdanckwerts/32/22443_2.png) [@peterdanckwerts](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/peterdanckwerts)\
**Post date:** [January 2, 2022, 12:30pm UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/reminder-change-copyright-year-to-2022/41899/8 "2022-01-02T12:30:46Z")

</div>

Yes, copyright does expire, but not (in the case of text) until 70 years after the death of the author! This should easily cover most of our needs. This 70 years rule is pretty well universal now. I still put a copyright date and change it every year, but that’s just to reassure readers that the site is still being updated.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![MiDoe](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/forums.realmacsoftware.com/midoe/32/8803_2.png) [@MiDoe](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/MiDoe)\
**Post date:** [January 2, 2022, 4:20pm UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/reminder-change-copyright-year-to-2022/41899/9 "2022-01-02T16:20:50Z")

</div>

If you don’t want to update manually you can write

```auto
© <script>document.write(new Date().getFullYear())</script>

```

I found this working on most servers

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![teefers](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/forums.realmacsoftware.com/teefers/32/8173_2.png) [@teefers](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/teefers)\
**Post date:** [January 2, 2022, 5:48pm UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/reminder-change-copyright-year-to-2022/41899/10 "2022-01-02T17:48:53Z")

</div>

> [@MiDoe](#):
>
> I found this working on most servers

That is Javascript and has nothing to do with the server, but requires the user to have JavaScript enabled on their browser. That shouldn’t be an issue for over 99% of users.

Everyone should remember that there are no “Copyright Police” at least not here in the U.S., so any protection you have is only as good as you will take it in civil actions. So unless you intend to hire a lawyer to take action against someone who has stolen your content, placing the Copyright on the page is pretty much just for show.

If you think sometime, you want to take action, then they base Copyright on who owned it first. So by placing the current year only on a copyright statement and not the first year you published, that content could weaken your claim.  
Btw: we have covered a lot of this in previous posts.

> [@Copyright and Year script for your footer](http://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/copyright-and-year-script-for-your-footer/11867):
>
> Now that a new year is upon us, it’s time to update the footer on your sites to reflect the new year. Rather than insert the date, though, use this auto-updating script and forget about it. Each year, on January 1st, the date will roll over to the new year. (the &copy; = copyright) &copy; \<script\>document.write(new Date().getFullYear())\</script\>

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![jacksona](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/forums.realmacsoftware.com/jacksona/32/16622_2.png) [@jacksona](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/jacksona)\
**Post date:** [January 3, 2022, 2:24pm UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/reminder-change-copyright-year-to-2022/41899/11 "2022-01-03T14:24:49Z")

</div>

Perhaps if Realmac added a %current\_year% variable, this could be handled automatically?

@dan Something for RW9?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Pegasus](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/forums.realmacsoftware.com/pegasus/32/25035_2.png) [@Pegasus](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/Pegasus)\
**Post date:** [January 3, 2022, 4:50pm UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/reminder-change-copyright-year-to-2022/41899/13 "2022-01-03T16:50:36Z")

</div>

> [@jacksona](#):
>
> Perhaps if Realmac added a %current\_year% variable, this could be handled automatically?
> 
> @dan Something for RW9?

that would be perfect! …not only for of the “copyright year”…also quite useful for other use cases

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![DLH](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5e925/32.png) [@DLH](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/DLH)\
**Post date:** [January 3, 2022, 9:58pm UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/reminder-change-copyright-year-to-2022/41899/14 "2022-01-03T21:58:56Z")

</div>

> [@](#):
>
> %current\_year%

Keep in mind that these types of template variables are only evaluated when the site is published. You’d still need to publish all pages where this is used for it to update them.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![daviddelmonte](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/forums.realmacsoftware.com/daviddelmonte/32/28853_2.png) [@daviddelmonte](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/daviddelmonte)\
**Post date:** [January 4, 2022, 7:53pm UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/reminder-change-copyright-year-to-2022/41899/15 "2022-01-04T19:53:45Z")

</div>

You can add this PHP / JS code snip into the General settings \> Footer

Copyright © \<?php $copyYear = 1998; $curYear = date('Y'); echo $copyYear . (($copyYear != $curYear) ? '-' . $curYear : ''); ?\> Your name

You’ll never need to worry about this again.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![instacks](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/forums.realmacsoftware.com/instacks/32/23339_2.png) [@instacks](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/instacks)\
**Post date:** [January 4, 2022, 8:13pm UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/reminder-change-copyright-year-to-2022/41899/16 "2022-01-04T20:13:07Z")

</div>

> [@daviddelmonte](#):
>
> add this PHP / JS code snip into the General settings \> Footer

This only work if all pages are PHP pages.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![tvalleau](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/54ee81/32.png) [@tvalleau](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/tvalleau)\
**Post date:** [January 5, 2022, 4:49am UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/reminder-change-copyright-year-to-2022/41899/17 "2022-01-05T04:49:27Z")

</div>

I’ve held copyrights for almost 40 years now, both for written work (including software) and for photographs. There is a _massive_ amount of incorrect information on copyright floating around on “the font of all wisdom” and some of it is here.

Read it for yourself: [Circulars | U.S. Copyright Office](https://www.copyright.gov/circs/)

Circular 01 covers the basics.

This thread is based on a mistaken premise: that a website can be copyrighted. Here’s what the copyright office says about that: “The Copyright Act does not explicitly recognize websites as a type of copyrightable subject matter. However, you may be able to register a website or a specific web page if it satisfies certain statutory requirements.” ([https://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ66.pdf](https://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ66.pdf))

Multiyear designations (copyright 2001-2004) are for the years that the original work was edited, or when a copyright has been purchased and transferred to a new owner.

The copyright notice has a very specific form, listed in Circular 01. The reply that copyright is granted once a work is in tangible form is correct, but the purpose of registering the copyright is in case the item is used illegally. You will get absolutely nowhere in court if you did not register your copyright.

It is NOT correct to change the date of a copyright just because the year rolls over. forbesrodney is entirely correct.

Copyright is not remotely simple or easy to understand. If it were, there would not be over a hundred circulars on it.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![vess](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/forums.realmacsoftware.com/vess/32/10493_2.png) [@vess](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/vess)\
**Post date:** [January 5, 2022, 9:33am UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/reminder-change-copyright-year-to-2022/41899/18 "2022-01-05T09:33:40Z")

</div>

Thank you, Michael 🙂  
… and a question as I’m a non-coder:

Where in RW do I have to insert the line of code you submitted?

Thanks and a Happy New Year to all!

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![dave](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/forums.realmacsoftware.com/dave/32/147_2.png) [@dave](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/dave)\
**Post date:** [January 5, 2022, 1:05pm UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/reminder-change-copyright-year-to-2022/41899/19 "2022-01-05T13:05:09Z")

</div>

I’m with the group that updates every year simply to assure my visitors that the site is maintained and updated.

By the way, here in the USA, nine of the top ten Fortune 500 update their copyright:

- 5 use only the current year
- 4 use a range of years
- 1 doesn’t have anything at all in their footer- it’s 100% totally blank. Not even a link to their privacy statement. Seriously: [https://abc.xyz](https://abc.xyz)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![joemart1951](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/forums.realmacsoftware.com/joemart1951/32/1193_2.png) [@joemart1951](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/joemart1951)\
**Post date:** [January 5, 2022, 1:48pm UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/reminder-change-copyright-year-to-2022/41899/20 "2022-01-05T13:48:04Z")

</div>

It is Google!!! hehe

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![pmjd](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/forums.realmacsoftware.com/pmjd/32/18671_2.png) [@pmjd](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/pmjd)\
**Post date:** [January 5, 2022, 5:59pm UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/reminder-change-copyright-year-to-2022/41899/21 "2022-01-05T17:59:58Z")

</div>

There is also the macro in RW for last published date too, as an alternative to using copyright as an indication of updates.

[Next page](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/reminder-change-copyright-year-to-2022/41899.md?page=2)