🛑OCD ALERT🛑: GET YOUR COPYRIGHT YEAR IN ORDER
Tags: webdev, discuss, writing, javascript
Published: 2021-02-12 19:34:32

When I visit a website the first thing I check is the copyright year in the footer. You might be surprised how many websites out there don't update the year, which might suggest that even when they did some time in the past it was done manually.

![Alt Text](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/319arwsxa9vq07kktcj6.gif)


Seeing a footer with an outdated year just tells me that the website is not properly looked after, which in a way as a business can degrade the value of your product. 
As a web developer, I can't help myself but think that the person who made the website didn't care enough to add a one liner that auto generates the current year.

I even wrote a [crawler](https://github.com/issammani/footer-year-check) to find such websites and boy there some big names in the mix. So without further ado I present to you : 
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**"HONEY I F\*\*\*\*\* UP THE COPYRIGHT YEAR" TOP 10 2021 Edition:** [Better name needed, let's make this an annual event 😝]

1. [Apple Music](https://web.archive.org/web/20210212002332if_/https://music.apple.com/us/browse)
![Alt Text](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/v9p72c9vlcqe42k0qe2l.png)
2. [Outlook](https://web.archive.org/web/20210212140850/https://outlook.live.com/owa/)
![Alt Text](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/fecdac1x863cy5wor0l8.png)

3. [Deutsche Bahn (German railways)](https://web.archive.org/web/20210212143504/https://www.deutschebahn.com/de)
![Alt Text](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/g1lcf8qsxk5p6cuo62l2.png)
 
4. [Deutsche Post (German Postal Service)] (https://web.archive.org/web/20210210203444/https://www.postdirekt.de/plzserver/)
![Alt Text](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/0ejq2wffk40r18hz5po4.png)
This one was a real mess. I found pages with 2017, 2019, 2020.
[Another link](https://web.archive.org/web/20210203172654/https://www.deutschepost.de/sendung/simpleQuery.html)
![Alt Text](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/1sw2cen29ni8jl8c7j0i.png)

5. Some other apple subdomains (This isn't too bad, I mean some pages are archaic)
[Apple podcast lisiting page](https://web.archive.org/web/20210212190532if_/https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-game-football-podcast/id191105605)
![Alt Text](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/7m0ph6jz1biob9w7q2g8.png)
[Apple app listing page](https://web.archive.org/web/20210212190554if_/https://apps.apple.com/de/app/dhl-paket/id329315203)
![Alt Text](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/hz597zpgj0leo0tdu1z3.png)

6. [Vimeo help center](https://web.archive.org/web/20210212145238/https://help.vimeo.com/hc/en-us)
![Alt Text](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/bndfu3pe7avfgw5ii6yj.png)

7. Ironically an [article on sonet.digital](https://web.archive.org/web/20210129210849/https://sonet.digital/blog/general/keep-copyright-up-to-date/) titled "The Importance of Updating Your Copyright Dates" which in turn has an outdated copyright year.
![Alt Text](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/v5q7axnnt97y993tz0jv.png)
8. [Github Status](https://web.archive.org/web/20210212112459/https://www.githubstatus.com/)
![Alt Text](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/mthmdv1fs4rpe0xkw0k3.png)

9. [Stitcher](https://web.archive.org/web/20210212030810/https://www.stitcher.com/)
![Alt Text](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/78ya8alhzgegjs4ok9ei.png)

10. [Atlassian investors] (https://web.archive.org/web/20210212165457/https://investors.atlassian.com/investors-overview/default.aspx)
![Alt Text](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/f7h0c8czr4oo28xg97cb.png)

If you would like to test this  for yourself grab a copy of the  [crawler](https://github.com/issammani/footer-year-check) and crawl away (If that's even a word).

Now I am by no means a lawyer or a trusted source on legal matters, but from what I understand and what other "by every means" more qualified people stated on the web is that it is not necessary to update the year from a legal standpoint. 

Here is what a [nolo](https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/when-do-you-need-copyright-notice-websites-and-where-do-you-place-it.html#:~:text=the%20%C2%A9%20symbol.-,Year%20of%20Publication,many%20websites%20are%20updated%20daily.) had to say about this:
> ... The copyright notice must also state the year the work was published. It has yet to be decided exactly when a website is "published" for copyright purposes, since many websites are updated daily. You should assume that any website that can be accessed has been "published" as soon as it launches, and include a copyright notice on it to reflect the original date.

But it also states that after substantial changes to your website the copyright year should reflect the year of publication of those changes:
> However, if an update contains a substantial amount of new material, it is considered to be a separate work of authorship in its own right. The notice for such a derivative work should contain the date the new work was published.

How you quantify "substantial changes" remains a mystery, though. Some other sources claim that having the original publication date might deter infringement of your website content. 

Now here is my counterargument: Big companies whose products can be only described as living creatures, don't follow such conventions. Facebook, for instance, who btw. has a massive legal team and literally billions at stake has the following copyright text(as of the time of writing) :

![Alt Text](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/1xa3z7thwn8wa87rrukp.png)



#Conclusion

This blogpost might feel like a rant (which it definitely is !), but really people this problem could be solved by a one liner in almost all languages ! On a final note: **GET YOUR COPYRIGHT YEARS IN ORDER !**

![Alt Text](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/dv778a8hymjb4lch60tx.gif)

If you enjoyed reading this like, share and/or leave a comment. Feedback is always welcome !

Live long and prosper 🖖