URL: /rules/content/stale-copyright

---
title: "Stale Copyright Year"
description: "Checks the footer copyright year against the current year"
---

Checks the footer copyright year against the current year

| | |
|---|---|
| **Rule ID** | `content/stale-copyright` |
| **Category** | [Content](/rules/content) |
| **Scope** | Per-page |
| **Severity** | warning |
| **Weight** | 2/10 |

## Solution

A footer copyright year behind the current year is the most common "this site is abandoned" signal a visitor sees, and it costs nothing to fix. Render the year dynamically from the server or build step rather than hardcoding it, or use a range whose end year updates ("2019-2026"). If the date is a deliberate legal assertion tied to a fixed publication, move it out of site chrome and into the page body so it reads as a statement about that content rather than about the site.

## What it checks

Reads `©`, `(c)`, `©` or the word "Copyright" followed by a year or a year range, and compares the **latest** year found against the current year.

- **Ranges are judged on the end year.** In 2026, `© 2019-2026` is clean and `© 2019-2025` warns.
- **A year ahead of now is not a finding.** Sites legitimately roll the year over early.
- **Only site chrome is inspected**: `<footer>`, `[role=contentinfo]`, `.footer`, `#footer`, `.site-footer`, `.page-footer` and `#colophon`. A historical year in body copy is correct as written, and an archived post is supposed to say 2019, so neither is reported.
- Pages with no footer, or a footer with no copyright notice, are **skipped** rather than passed.

## Options

| Option | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| `current_year` | number | current UTC year | Year to compare the footer against |

```toml squirrel.toml
[rules.options."content/stale-copyright"]
current_year = 2026
```

Setting `current_year` pins the comparison, which is useful when auditing an archived snapshot of a site as of a particular year.

## Enable / Disable

### Disable this rule

```toml squirrel.toml
[rules]
disable = ["content/stale-copyright"]
```

### Disable all Content rules

```toml squirrel.toml
[rules]
disable = ["content/*"]
```

### Enable only this rule

```toml squirrel.toml
[rules]
enable = ["content/stale-copyright"]
disable = ["*"]
```