Copyright on NZ websites has two elements to consider.
The first, would be the legal aspect of this and intent around ownership of your content. And although I am proud to have many skills in my toolkit, being a qualified lawyer is not one of them, so we’ll come back to that point.
What I CAN comment on, is the message that’s being sent to your website visitors, depending on your display choice for the copyright area.
Consider this. You’re shopping for a product or service and land on a website. It appears ok at first glance and you start browsing around. As you get to the bottom of the page you notice the Copyright Footer Notice is dated 2015. Doesn’t fill you with confidence that the company really cares about, nor updates, their website very frequently does it?
I recommend that your website copyright always has the current year in it. It helps build visitor trust by indicating your website is important to you and gives the impression that this is a website that’s kept up to date (even if you’re a bit slack about updating your content!).
WordPress
There are code snippets you can use to automate it so the current year always displays but otherwise simply jump onto your admin area and update it manually.
Shopify, Wix, Squarespace, Weebly
Assuming you haven’t changed the default settings then these platforms will automatically update your copyright date each year, so you’re covered.
But what about when I want people to know that my business has been around for a while and has stood the test of time.
And that’s an understandable and valid point. If your business has longevity and you’d like that displayed to further enhance your credibility online, then by all means include both your launch date and the current date, eg, 2009-2019.
Personally I’d just use the current year and use the About Us section to briefly detail your company history.
