diff --git a/scripts/copyright.pl b/scripts/copyright.pl
index dcb1b8b38f..d031ab088e 100755
--- a/scripts/copyright.pl
+++ b/scripts/copyright.pl
@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@ sub scanfile {
         chomp;
         my $l = $_;
         # check for a copyright statement and save the years
-        if($l =~ /.* +copyright .* *\d\d\d\d/i) {
+        if($l =~ /.* ?copyright .* *\d\d\d\d/i) {
             while($l =~ /([\d]{4})/g) {
                 push @copyright, {
                   year => $1,