diff --git a/compiler/cgen.nim b/compiler/cgen.nim
index 630426cfd1..12e640d96a 100644
--- a/compiler/cgen.nim
+++ b/compiler/cgen.nim
@@ -908,7 +908,6 @@ proc addIntTypes(result: var Rope) {.inline.} =
     platform.CPU[targetCPU].intSize.rope])
 
 proc getCopyright(cfile: Cfile): Rope =
-  const copyrightYear = "2017"
   if optCompileOnly in gGlobalOptions:
     result = ("/* Generated by Nim Compiler v$1 */$N" &
         "/*   (c) " & copyrightYear & " Andreas Rumpf */$N" &
diff --git a/compiler/commands.nim b/compiler/commands.nim
index 45c0f586c3..aa7d13703c 100644
--- a/compiler/commands.nim
+++ b/compiler/commands.nim
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ proc processSwitch*(switch, arg: string, pass: TCmdLinePass, info: TLineInfo;
 
 const
   HelpMessage = "Nim Compiler Version $1 [$2: $3]\n" &
-      "Copyright (c) 2006-2017 by Andreas Rumpf\n"
+      "Copyright (c) 2006-" & copyrightYear & " by Andreas Rumpf\n"
 
 const
   Usage = slurp"../doc/basicopt.txt".replace("//", "")
diff --git a/compiler/jsgen.nim b/compiler/jsgen.nim
index d58008516f..6f40e70318 100644
--- a/compiler/jsgen.nim
+++ b/compiler/jsgen.nim
@@ -2390,7 +2390,7 @@ proc genHeader(target: TTarget): Rope =
   if target == targetJS:
     result = (
       "/* Generated by the Nim Compiler v$1 */$n" &
-      "/*   (c) 2017 Andreas Rumpf */$n$n" &
+      "/*   (c) " & copyrightYear & " Andreas Rumpf */$n$n" &
       "var framePtr = null;$n" &
       "var excHandler = 0;$n" &
       "var lastJSError = null;$n" &
@@ -2406,7 +2406,7 @@ proc genHeader(target: TTarget): Rope =
   else:
     result = ("<?php$n" &
               "/* Generated by the Nim Compiler v$1 */$n" &
-              "/*   (c) 2017 Andreas Rumpf */$n$n" &
+              "/*   (c) " & copyrightYear & " Andreas Rumpf */$n$n" &
               "$$framePtr = null;$n" &
               "$$excHandler = 0;$n" &
               "$$lastJSError = null;$n") %
@@ -2464,7 +2464,7 @@ proc genClass(obj: PType; content: Rope; ext: string) =
     else: nil
   let result = ("<?php$n" &
             "/* Generated by the Nim Compiler v$# */$n" &
-            "/*   (c) 2017 Andreas Rumpf */$n$n" &
+            "/*   (c) " & copyrightYear & " Andreas Rumpf */$n$n" &
             "require_once \"nimsystem.php\";$n" &
             "class $#$# {$n$#$n}$n") %
            [rope(VersionAsString), cls, extends, content]
diff --git a/compiler/options.nim b/compiler/options.nim
index 2f136a8f26..65f5a62455 100644
--- a/compiler/options.nim
+++ b/compiler/options.nim
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ const
   newScopeForIf* = true
   useCaas* = not defined(noCaas)
   noTimeMachine* = defined(avoidTimeMachine) and defined(macosx)
+  copyrightYear* = "2018"
 
 type                          # please make sure we have under 32 options
                               # (improves code efficiency a lot!)