Has Copyright reports whether RankGear detects a common copyright marker — the © symbol, an HTML copyright entity, or the word “copyright” — in a page’s rendered body source, returning 1 when one is found and 0 when none is. It is a presentation signal only: it does not establish ownership, registration, licensing, or the legal protection of the content.
| Factor ID | RG-TRS-002 |
|---|---|
| Family | Trust & contact signals |
| Measurement | Boolean (0 / 1) |
| Measured zone | Rendered page body source |
What it measures
Has Copyright reports whether RankGear detects a common copyright marker in the rendered page body. A value of 1 means a supported marker was found; a value of 0 means none was detected. The factor is a presentation signal — it does not determine ownership, registration, licensing, originality, validity, or the legal status of the page’s content.
How RankGear measures it
RankGear checks the script-free body HTML for the numeric copyright entity, the named copy entity, the word “copyright,” or the literal copyright symbol. The entity and word checks use RankGear’s established case handling. Any one supported marker produces 1; a year on its own is not enough.
What RankGear looks for
© <!-- numeric copyright entity -->
© <!-- named copy entity -->
copyright <!-- the word, case-insensitive -->
© <!-- literal copyright symbol -->| Value | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 1 | At least one supported copyright marker was found in the body source. |
| 0 | No supported marker was detected (a bare year does not count). |
How to optimize it
Use an accurate copyright notice where appropriate, commonly in a site footer or publication notice. Identify the correct rights holder and maintain dates or ranges according to the organization’s publishing policy. Make sure the notice does not claim rights the organization does not possess, and that licensed or third-party material is credited according to its terms. Treat this as an observation about presentation, not a target to game: adding the word alone satisfies the detector without adding trust.
Important considerations
- Presence does not establish legal ownership or protection.
- The word “copyright” anywhere in the body source can satisfy the detector.
- A missing marker does not mean the content has no copyright protection.
- Legal interpretation depends on jurisdiction and circumstances.
- Use this factor as a trust and presentation observation, not a legal conclusion — it correlates with position within a measured result set and is never a guarantee of ranking.
Related factors
Part of the Factors reference · how RankGear measures · glossary.