Copyright notice generator — © lines and an HTML footer

Enter the copyright owner and the years, and the tool lists six or seven ways to write the © notice plus an HTML footer snippet. A notice states your claim; it does not register anything. This is general information, not legal advice, and copyright rules differ by country.

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Notices

  1. © 2019–2026 Northwind Studio Ltd. All rights reserved.
  2. Copyright © 2019–2026 Northwind Studio Ltd. All rights reserved.
  3. © 2019–2026 Northwind Studio Ltd
  4. Copyright 2019–2026 Northwind Studio Ltd
  5. © Northwind Studio Ltd 2019–2026. All rights reserved.
  6. © 2019–2026 Northwind Studio Ltd. Some rights reserved. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.

HTML footer with an auto-updating year

<p>&copy; 2019&ndash;<span id="copyright-year">2026</span> Northwind Studio Ltd. All rights reserved.</p><script>document.getElementById("copyright-year").textContent = new Date().getFullYear();</script>

Copyright exists automatically when a work is created in most countries; a notice states the claim but does not register it. The year is the first publication year (a range if you update the work). This is general information, not legal advice.

Processed on your device — nothing is uploaded.

  1. Type the Copyright owner: your name, your company’s legal name, or “Name and contributors”.
  2. Enter the First year of publication (optional). Set it to 0, or to the same year as the latest year, for a single-year notice.
  3. Enter the Latest year.
  4. Add Extra wording (optional), such as a reuse rule, if you want one more variant.
  5. Copy a line from Notices, or copy the HTML footer with an auto-updating year.

What it does and when to use it

Use it for a website footer, the end of an ebook or PDF, an app’s About screen, a photo caption or the credits of a video. The list always contains five standard forms, for example “© 2019–2026 Northwind Studio Ltd. All rights reserved.” and “Copyright 2019–2026 Northwind Studio Ltd”. It adds your extra wording as a sixth line and ends with a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 version for work you want to share.

It does not cover registering a work, choosing a licence, trademark notices (™ or ®) or protecting images from copying. To mark photos, add a visible mark with the image watermark tool. If someone copies your work online, the DMCA notice generator drafts a takedown request.

How it works

The tool builds each line in your browser from the owner and years. If the first year is set and earlier than the latest year, it writes an en-dash range (“2019–2026”); otherwise it uses only the latest year. The HTML snippet wraps the last year in <span id="copyright-year"> and adds a one-line script that replaces it with the visitor’s current year when the page loads.

Worked examples

A site updated since 2019. Owner Northwind Studio Ltd, years 2019 to 2026. The first line is © 2019–2026 Northwind Studio Ltd. All rights reserved. and the HTML starts <p>&copy; 2019&ndash;<span id="copyright-year">2026</span>.

A photographer’s single year with a reuse rule. Owner Asha Rao, first and latest year 2024, extra wording “Photos may not be reused without permission.” The list shows © 2024 Asha Rao. Photos may not be reused without permission.

Open licence. First year 0, latest 2025: the last line reads © 2025 Northwind Studio Ltd. Some rights reserved. Licensed under CC BY 4.0. Use it only if you really license the work under CC BY 4.0, and link to the licence.

Limits and tips

  • The auto-updating year shows today’s year, not a publication year. Use the static lines if you want the notice to show exactly when the work was published.
  • A first year later than the latest year is ignored, and a warning names both years so you can correct them.
  • Use the owner’s legal name. For work made for an employer or client, the owner may not be you.
  • Laws differ by country. This is general information, not legal advice.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a copyright notice to be protected?
No. Berne Convention countries may not make protection depend on formalities, and the U.S. Copyright Office says notice is optional for works published after 1 March 1989. A notice is still useful because it tells people who owns the work.
Which year should I use?
Circular 3 from the U.S. Copyright Office names the year of first publication of the work. If you keep updating a site, the tool can show a range such as 2019–2026, with the first year set to when the site was first published.
Is "All rights reserved" required?
No. Circular 3 lists three elements of a notice — the © symbol (or the word "Copyright"), the year of first publication and the owner's name — and says that when notice is optional, owners can use any form they wish. That is why the tool also offers versions without "All rights reserved".
Does the notice register my copyright?
No. In the U.S., registration is a separate step with the Copyright Office, and Circular 1 says works of U.S. origin must be registered before you can sue for infringement. Other countries have their own systems.

Sources

  1. Circular 3: Copyright Notice — U.S. Copyright Office, accessed 2026-10-07
  2. Circular 1: Copyright Basics — U.S. Copyright Office, accessed 2026-10-07
  3. Summary of the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works (1886) — World Intellectual Property Organization, accessed 2026-10-07

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Written by the ToolsRift team · Last updated · Figures last verified

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