I just want to check what others do in this situation to be sure I'm doing the right thing.

Over the years since I first started, my photo-editing skills have improved 1000-fold, and sometimes I trawl through old work and find something that seemed impossible to make work back then, but is now no trouble at all.

So once I've carried out the necessary edits, I copyright it according to the current year, since that is the year I completed the finished product.

I'm just curious as to whether others think that's the right thing to do, or whether they would copyright according to the date the image was taken - even though that is not precisely the item they're selling.

I'm not sure why it actually matters, since copyright lasts until so many years after the death of the artist, not so many years after the date of creation. Or maybe that's just in the EU. Do other countries count copyright from the date of creation?

Are you talking about in the EXIF? I don't even put a date on my copyright in the EXIF since the date's already there, and if someone is going to strip that out, they're certainly going to strip out the EXIF data. And the programs/processes that strip out the EXIF (e.g. 'save for web') will take it all out also.

I guess I'm missing something, APU.

Oh I'm just looking to ensure that I'm being accurate and truthful and not wanting to come unstuck further down the line by making an error of judgement now.

I'm just a PITA to myself really 

What's 'APU' btw?

'as per usual'.

Just realised that I got in off the plane yesterday and started loading the pics onto my desktop and sorted them into days before putting the copyright info into the exif, so now I have to type it all in for each folder rather than just once for one big job, so I've been doing that and hopping into the forums while each batch 'batches' (though this machine does it really quickly, to be fair). Funny, as I've only done the must basic cull, but I'm always nervous of forgetting to put in the copyright info if I wait til I've reviewed each slide, even though I'll no doubt delete at least half of them quite soon. And that's even before I sort the time exifs because I forgot to change the camera's date/time until about day four.    APU.   

Oh, and if you want a laugh, I'm swithering about putting my country as 'Scotland, UK' as I've traditionally done (to be accurate) or just 'Scotland', as I can't bear the idea of going back and taking UK out of them all if the independence referendum goes that way. Not to mention all my existing Scottish photos.  

Doesn't your camera automatically include a creation date? Mine also includes the ability to fill in a copyright line that appears in the EXIF.
Copyright exists on every image that is created, so the camera's date record is the starting point.