diff --git a/LICENSE b/LICENSE
index 0209b570e10da54c158654433c5d3212b548c352..ac4b207af71bbe1a2c8b68729e6b0c47574b766b 100644
--- a/LICENSE
+++ b/LICENSE
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-Copyright 2015, Google Inc.
+Copyright 2015-2016, Google Inc.
 All rights reserved.
 
 Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
diff --git a/include/grpc++/security/credentials.h b/include/grpc++/security/credentials.h
index 3823b776cb95637849cf809316ed82e69afd6c62..a06dcf14ea564f09d81502d735f9684a708c1cc4 100644
--- a/include/grpc++/security/credentials.h
+++ b/include/grpc++/security/credentials.h
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 /*
  *
- * Copyright 2015, Google Inc.
+ * Copyright 2015-2016, Google Inc.
  * All rights reserved.
  *
  * Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
diff --git a/src/core/security/jwt_verifier.c b/src/core/security/jwt_verifier.c
index 66971924688b91707dac38fe10e8edf971c4ee30..042a117f5d74813ccc46b0fce113fe51ff76e80f 100644
--- a/src/core/security/jwt_verifier.c
+++ b/src/core/security/jwt_verifier.c
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 /*
  *
- * Copyright 2015, Google Inc.
+ * Copyright 2015-2016, Google Inc.
  * All rights reserved.
  *
  * Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
diff --git a/src/php/ext/grpc/LICENSE b/src/php/ext/grpc/LICENSE
index 704b523970a983369879efabcb54873a7ea51d30..0c651a02871d439323f05f53fa1e649b202f7d07 100644
--- a/src/php/ext/grpc/LICENSE
+++ b/src/php/ext/grpc/LICENSE
@@ -1,32 +1,30 @@
-/*
- *
- * Copyright 2015, Google Inc.
- * All rights reserved.
- *
- * Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
- * modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are
- * met:
- *
- *     * Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
- * notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
- *     * Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above
- * copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer
- * in the documentation and/or other materials provided with the
- * distribution.
- *     * Neither the name of Google Inc. nor the names of its
- * contributors may be used to endorse or promote products derived from
- * this software without specific prior written permission.
- *
- * THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS
- * "AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT
- * LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR
- * A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT
- * OWNER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL,
- * SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT
- * LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE,
- * DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY
- * THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT
- * (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE
- * OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
- *
- */
+Copyright 2015, Google Inc.
+All rights reserved.
+
+Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
+modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are
+met:
+
+    * Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
+notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
+    * Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above
+copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer
+in the documentation and/or other materials provided with the
+distribution.
+    * Neither the name of Google Inc. nor the names of its
+contributors may be used to endorse or promote products derived from
+this software without specific prior written permission.
+
+THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS
+"AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT
+LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR
+A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT
+OWNER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL,
+SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT
+LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE,
+DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY
+THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT
+(INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE
+OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
+
+
diff --git a/tools/distrib/check_copyright.py b/tools/distrib/check_copyright.py
index 1693f7ce9e43a2e0bb059a681dbd838b39c439e7..6c66a291808a05ddcc6c3e45e58255e7c32eb19a 100755
--- a/tools/distrib/check_copyright.py
+++ b/tools/distrib/check_copyright.py
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python2.7
 
-# Copyright 2015, Google Inc.
+# Copyright 2015-2016, Google Inc.
 # All rights reserved.
 #
 # Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
@@ -30,7 +30,9 @@
 # OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
 
 import argparse
+import datetime
 import os
+import re
 import sys
 import subprocess
 
@@ -52,10 +54,6 @@ argp.add_argument('-a', '--ancient',
                   default=0,
                   action='store_const',
                   const=1)
-argp.add_argument('-f', '--fix',
-                  default=0,
-                  action='store_const',
-                  const=1)
 args = argp.parse_args()
 
 # open the license text
@@ -66,34 +64,46 @@ with open('LICENSE') as f:
 # key is the file extension, value is a format string
 # that given a line of license text, returns what should
 # be in the file
-LICENSE_FMT = {
-  '.c': ' * %s',
-  '.cc': ' * %s',
-  '.h': ' * %s',
-  '.m': ' * %s',
-  '.php': ' * %s',
-  '.py': '# %s',
-  '.rb': '# %s',
-  '.sh': '# %s',
-  '.proto': '// %s',
-  '.js': ' * %s',
-  '.cs': '// %s',
-  '.mak': '# %s',
-  'Makefile': '# %s',
-  'Dockerfile': '# %s',
+LICENSE_PREFIX = {
+  '.c':         r'\s*\*\s*',
+  '.cc':        r'\s*\*\s*',
+  '.h':         r'\s*\*\s*',
+  '.m':         r'\s*\*\s*',
+  '.php':       r'\s*\*\s*',
+  '.js':        r'\s*\*\s*',
+  '.py':        r'#\s*',
+  '.rb':        r'#\s*',
+  '.sh':        r'#\s*',
+  '.proto':     r'//\s*',
+  '.cs':        r'//\s*',
+  '.mak':       r'#\s*',
+  'Makefile':   r'#\s*',
+  'Dockerfile': r'#\s*',
+  'LICENSE':    '',
 }
 
 KNOWN_BAD = set([
   'src/php/tests/bootstrap.php',
 ])
 
-# pregenerate the actual text that we should have
-LICENSE_TEXT = dict(
-    (k, '\n'.join((v % line).rstrip() for line in LICENSE))
-    for k, v in LICENSE_FMT.iteritems())
 
-OLD_LICENSE_TEXT = dict(
-    (k, v.replace('2015', '2014')) for k, v in LICENSE_TEXT.iteritems())
+RE_YEAR = r'Copyright (?:[0-9]+\-)?([0-9]+), Google Inc\.'
+RE_LICENSE = dict(
+    (k, r'\n'.join(
+        LICENSE_PREFIX[k] +
+        (RE_YEAR if re.search(RE_YEAR, line) else re.escape(line))
+        for line in LICENSE))
+     for k, v in LICENSE_PREFIX.iteritems())
+
+
+def load(name):
+  with open(name) as f:
+    return '\n'.join(line.rstrip() for line in f.read().splitlines())
+
+
+assert(re.search(RE_LICENSE['LICENSE'], load('LICENSE')))
+assert(re.search(RE_LICENSE['Makefile'], load('Makefile')))
+
 
 def log(cond, why, filename):
   if not cond: return
@@ -102,30 +112,32 @@ def log(cond, why, filename):
   else:
     print filename
 
+
 # scan files, validate the text
 for filename in subprocess.check_output('git ls-tree -r --name-only -r HEAD',
                                         shell=True).splitlines():
   if filename in KNOWN_BAD: continue
   ext = os.path.splitext(filename)[1]
   base = os.path.basename(filename)
-  if ext in LICENSE_TEXT: 
-    license = LICENSE_TEXT[ext]
-    old_license = OLD_LICENSE_TEXT[ext]
-  elif base in LICENSE_TEXT:
-    license = LICENSE_TEXT[base]
-    old_license = OLD_LICENSE_TEXT[base]
+  if ext in RE_LICENSE:
+    re_license = RE_LICENSE[ext]
+  elif base in RE_LICENSE:
+    re_license = RE_LICENSE[base]
   else:
     log(args.skips, 'skip', filename)
     continue
-  with open(filename) as f:
-    text = '\n'.join(line.rstrip() for line in f.read().splitlines())
-  if license in text:
-    pass
-  elif old_license in text:
-    log(args.ancient, 'old', filename)
-    if args.fix:
-      with open(filename, 'w') as f:
-        f.write(text.replace('Copyright 2014, Google Inc.', 'Copyright 2015, Google Inc.') + '\n')
-  elif 'DO NOT EDIT' not in text and 'AssemblyInfo.cs' not in filename:
-    log(1, 'missing', filename)
+  text = load(filename)
+  ok = True
+  m = re.search(re_license, text)
+  if m:
+    last_modified = int(subprocess.check_output('git log -1 --format="%ad" --date=short -- ' + filename, shell=True)[0:4])
+    latest_claimed = int(m.group(1))
+    if last_modified > latest_claimed:
+      print '%s modified %d but copyright only extends to %d' % (filename, last_modified, latest_claimed)
+      ok = False
+  elif 'DO NOT EDIT' not in text and 'AssemblyInfo.cs' not in filename and filename != 'src/boringssl/err_data.c':
+    log(1, 'copyright missing', filename)
+    ok = False
+
+sys.exit(0 if ok else 1)
 
diff --git a/tools/run_tests/run_sanity.sh b/tools/run_tests/run_sanity.sh
index 6a80f1f81c5ce0a8529d3c6e0b6000b9d209f318..1b298488614ee01ad44f5cadb228926270009f98 100755
--- a/tools/run_tests/run_sanity.sh
+++ b/tools/run_tests/run_sanity.sh
@@ -58,5 +58,6 @@ if [ -f cache.mk ] ; then
 fi
 
 ./tools/buildgen/generate_projects.sh
+./tools/distrib/check_copyright.py
 ./tools/distrib/clang_format_code.sh