diff --git a/tools/update_copyright.sh b/tools/update_copyright.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..2df3e2995
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/update_copyright.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+#!/usr/bin/awk -f
+# A simple awk script to update copyright lines
+# It can be used in a simple loop, e.g.:
+#
+# cd src
+# for i in $a; do 
+#     echo $i
+#     ../update_copyright.sh $i >xx
+#     rc=$?
+#     if [ $rc == "0" ]; then 
+#         echo "$i contains no (c)."
+#     else
+#         mv xx $i
+#     fi
+# done
+
+
+BEGIN   {
+            found_something=0; 
+        }
+/\(C\)/ {
+            if(index($4,"-")>0) 
+               new_years=gensub("-.*$","-2013",1,$4); 
+	    else
+               new_years=$4"-2013";
+	    line = $0;
+            sub($4,new_years,line);
+	    print line;
+	    found_something=1;
+  	    next;
+        }
+        { 
+	    print $0;
+        }
+END     {
+            exit(found_something);
+        }
+