Historically, we have used <introduction year>-<modification year> as the pattern for copyright headers.

For example: Copyright 2002-2025 the original author or authors.

However, we have been encouraged to use present as the modification year.

In light of that, we should update the following to enforce the new pattern.

We should then run update_copyright_headers.sh to modify all source files.

Comment From: uyw4687

Hello, @sbrannen,

Thank you for your excellent work, as always. I'm interested in the recent changes regarding the copyright year tasks, and if it's alright with you, I'd like to understand the motivation behind this change. I am considering applying this update to our company's project.

We have been encouraged to use "present" as the modification year.

Could you please share where this encouragement originated? Was it a suggestion from the Spring maintainers, or perhaps based on legal advice?

I understand that using "present" for the modification year can simplify maintenance since it eliminates the need to verify its accuracy. While we automatically update this with our IDE, the idea of not having to check it at all is appealing. Was the decision to use "present" primarily for convenience, or were there other factors involved?

I appreciate your time and insights.