What Should a Website Copyright Statement Include?

(And How to Avoid Updating It Every Year)

Every January, we get a flurry of requests from clients asking us to update the copyright year in their website footer. And hey, we get it—keeping things fresh matters. But is it really necessary to update that little line of text every single year? Let’s break it down.

What Does a Copyright Statement Actually Include?

At its core, a basic copyright notice looks like this:
© [Year] [Your Business Name]. All rights reserved.

Example:
© 2025 SpinUp Creative. All rights reserved.

It’s a simple way to indicate who owns the rights to the website content. But here’s the kicker: in most cases, you don’t have to include it at all.

Do You Even Need a Year in Your Copyright Notice?

Short answer: nope—at least not legally. Thanks to international copyright law (specifically, the Berne Convention), your work is protected the moment it’s created and published. A copyright notice isn’t required, though it’s still helpful for public awareness.

So, that year? It’s mostly for perception. It can show that a site is actively maintained or updated, but it doesn’t impact your actual copyright protection.

How to Avoid Manually Updating Your Footer Every Year

Here are your best options:

1. Dynamic Year (Our Favorite Solution)
We use the magic of code to update the year automatically.

2. Year Range
If your site has been around for a while, you might want to show that history:
© 2017–2025 Your Company Name. All rights reserved.
We can also make the end year dynamic using PHP or JavaScript methods.

3. No Year at All
Surprisingly, this is totally valid:
© Your Company Name. All rights reserved.
It’s clean, minimalist, and saves you the trouble of updating—but some people might perceive it as out-of-date.

What’s the Right Approach?
There’s no one-size-fits-all, but here’s a cheat sheet: