diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 4a70114eb..2613dc427 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -65,6 +65,7 @@ buck-out/
 /infer/lib/specs/cpp_models
 /infer/lib/specs/objc_models
 /infer/lib/specs/clean_models
+/scripts/checkCopyright
 
 #atdgen stubs
 /infer/src/backend/jsonbug_*
diff --git a/infer/Makefile b/infer/Makefile
index 94f23bec8..0470bc0c9 100644
--- a/infer/Makefile
+++ b/infer/Makefile
@@ -6,9 +6,9 @@ MODELS = models
 SRCDIR = src
 
 
-.PHONY: clean clang java llvm models
+.PHONY: clean clang java llvm checkCopyright models
 
-all: clang java llvm
+all: clang java llvm checkCopyright
 
 java:
 	make -C $(SRCDIR) java
@@ -22,6 +22,9 @@ clang:
 llvm:
 	make -C $(SRCDIR) llvm
 
+checkCopyright:
+	make -C $(SRCDIR) checkCopyright
+
 clean:
 	make -C $(SRCDIR) clean
 	make -C $(MODELS) clean
diff --git a/infer/src/Makefile b/infer/src/Makefile
index 5f81aeab4..44820512a 100644
--- a/infer/src/Makefile
+++ b/infer/src/Makefile
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ GLOBAL_LIBS = unix str
 BUILDDIR = ../_build-infer
 ANNOTDIR = $(ROOT)/infer/src/_build
 BINDIR = $(ROOT)/infer/bin
+SCRIPTDIR = $(ROOT)/scripts
 
 ifneq ($(wildcard $(BUILDDIR)/sanitize.sh),)
 	SANITIZE_SCRIPT = $(BUILDDIR)/sanitize.sh
@@ -111,6 +112,13 @@ LLVM_SOURCES = llvm
 INFERLLVM_MAIN = $(LLVM_SOURCES)/lMain
 INFERLLVM_BINARY = $(BINDIR)/InferLLVM
 
+#### scripts declarations ####
+
+SCRIPT_SOURCES = scripts
+
+CHECKCOPYRIGHT_BINARY = $(SCRIPTDIR)/checkCopyright
+CHECKCOPYRIGHT_MAIN = $(SCRIPT_SOURCES)/checkCopyright
+
 #### End of declarations ####
 
 # Check whether .facebook file exists in a root directory.
@@ -125,9 +133,9 @@ DEPENDENCIES = $(BACKEND_SOURCES) checkers facebook/checkers facebook/checkers/g
 
 OCAMLBUILD = ocamlbuild -build-dir $(BUILDDIR) -j 0 $(addprefix -I , $(DEPENDENCIES)) $(GLOBAL_OPTIONS) $(ATDGEN_OPTIONS)  $(JAVA_OPTIONS)
 
-.PHONY: all java clang llvm build_java build_clang build_llvm annotations init sanitize version clean
+.PHONY: all java clang llvm checkCopyright build_java build_clang build_llvm build_checkCopyright annotations init sanitize version clean
 
-all: java clang llvm
+all: java clang llvm checkCopyright
 
 java: build_java annotations $(INFERANALYZE_BINARY) $(INFERPRINT_BINARY) $(INFERJAVA_BINARY)
 
@@ -135,6 +143,8 @@ clang: build_clang annotations $(INFERANALYZE_BINARY) $(INFERPRINT_BINARY) $(INF
 
 llvm: build_llvm annotations $(INFERLLVM_BINARY)
 
+checkCopyright: build_checkCopyright annotations $(CHECKCOPYRIGHT_BINARY)
+
 build_java: init $(INFERPRINT_ATDGEN_STUBS)
 	$(OCAMLBUILD) $(TYPEPROP_MAIN).native $(INFERANALYZE_MAIN).native $(INFERPRINT_MAIN).native $(INFERJAVA_MAIN).native
 
@@ -144,11 +154,14 @@ build_clang: init $(INFERPRINT_ATDGEN_STUBS) check_clang_plugin $(CLANG_ATDGEN_S
 build_llvm:
 	$(OCAMLBUILD) -use-menhir $(INFERLLVM_MAIN).native
 
+build_checkCopyright:
+	$(OCAMLBUILD) -I $(SCRIPT_SOURCES) $(CHECKCOPYRIGHT_MAIN).native
+
 annotations:
 	rsync -r --delete --exclude=*.ml* --exclude=*.o --exclude=*.cm* --exclude=*.native $(BUILDDIR)/* $(ANNOTDIR)
 
 check_clang_plugin:
-	$(ROOT)/scripts/check_clang_plugin_version.sh $(CLANG_PLUGIN_ROOT)
+	$(SCRIPTDIR)/check_clang_plugin_version.sh $(CLANG_PLUGIN_ROOT)
 
 $(INFERPRINT_ATDGEN_STUBS): $(INFERPRINT_ATDGEN_STUB_ATD)
 	atdgen -t $(INFERPRINT_ATDGEN_STUB_ATD) -o $(INFERPRINT_ATDGEN_STUB_BASE)
@@ -214,7 +227,10 @@ $(INFERLLVM_BINARY): $(BUILDDIR)/$(INFERLLVM_MAIN).native
 $(TYPEPROP_BINARY): $(BUILDDIR)/$(TYPEPROP_MAIN).native
 	$(COPY) $(BUILDDIR)/$(TYPEPROP_MAIN).native $(TYPEPROP_BINARY)
 
+$(CHECKCOPYRIGHT_BINARY): $(BUILDDIR)/$(CHECKCOPYRIGHT_MAIN).native
+	$(COPY) $(BUILDDIR)/$(CHECKCOPYRIGHT_MAIN).native $(CHECKCOPYRIGHT_BINARY)
+
 clean: $(BUILDDIR)
 	$(OCAMLBUILD) -clean
 	$(REMOVE_DIR) $(ANNOTDIR)
-	$(REMOVE) $(TYPEPROP_BINARY) $(INFERANALYZE_BINARY) $(INFERPRINT_BINARY) $(INFERJAVA_BINARY) $(INFERCLANG_BINARY) $(INFERLLVM_BINARY)
+	$(REMOVE) $(TYPEPROP_BINARY) $(INFERANALYZE_BINARY) $(INFERPRINT_BINARY) $(INFERJAVA_BINARY) $(INFERCLANG_BINARY) $(INFERLLVM_BINARY) $(CHECKCOPYRIGHT_BINARY)
diff --git a/infer/src/backend/sil.ml b/infer/src/backend/sil.ml
index 505ad1e55..87f0c5c2d 100644
--- a/infer/src/backend/sil.ml
+++ b/infer/src/backend/sil.ml
@@ -14,8 +14,6 @@ module L = Logging
 module F = Format
 open Utils
 
-let () = if CheckCopyright.active then CheckCopyright.check ()
-
 (** {2 Programs and Types} *)
 
 (** Type to represent one @Annotation. *)
diff --git a/infer/src/backend/checkCopyright.ml b/infer/src/scripts/checkCopyright.ml
similarity index 68%
rename from infer/src/backend/checkCopyright.ml
rename to infer/src/scripts/checkCopyright.ml
index c5b2d9bd3..fa373e706 100644
--- a/infer/src/backend/checkCopyright.ml
+++ b/infer/src/scripts/checkCopyright.ml
@@ -31,11 +31,8 @@ let lang_of_com_style style =
   else if style = comment_style_shell then "shell"
   else "??unknown??"
 
-(** If active, check copyright messages and exit. *)
-let active = Config.from_env_variable "INFER_CHECK_COPYRIGHT"
-
 (** If true, update the copyright message of the files. *)
-let update_files = true
+let update_files = ref false
 
 let line_contains_copyright line =
   string_contains "opyright " line
@@ -175,61 +172,56 @@ let file_should_have_copyright fname lines =
   list_exists (Filename.check_suffix fname) extensions
 
 
-let get_files_from_git () =
-  let tmpfile = Filename.temp_file "git_ls" "" in
-  let _ = Sys.command ("git ls-files >" ^ tmpfile) in
-  let git_files = match read_file tmpfile with
-    | Some git_files -> git_files
-    | None -> [] in
-  Sys.remove tmpfile;
-  git_files
-
-
-let check_copyright () =
-  let check_file fname =
-    match read_file fname with
-    | None -> ()
-    | Some lines ->
-        begin
-          match find_copyright_line lines 0 with
-          | None ->
-              if file_should_have_copyright fname lines
-              then L.stderr "Copyright not found in %s@." fname
-          | Some n ->
-              let lines_arr = Array.of_list lines in
-              let line = lines_arr.(n) in
-              let len = String.length line in
-              let (cstart, com_style) = find_comment_start_and_style lines_arr n in
-              let cend = find_comment_end lines_arr n com_style in
-              if looks_like_copyright_message cstart cend lines_arr then
-                begin
-                  let mono = contains_monoidics cstart cend lines_arr in
-                  match get_fb_year cstart cend lines_arr with
-                  | None ->
-                      L.stderr "Can't find fb year: %s@." fname
-                  | Some fb_year ->
-                      let prefix = if com_style = comment_style_ocaml then " " else "" in
-                      if copyright_has_changed mono fb_year com_style prefix cstart cend lines_arr then
-                        begin
-                          let range = cend - cstart in
-                          let lang = lang_of_com_style com_style in
-                          L.stdout "%s (start:%d n:%d end:%d len:%d range:%d lang:%s mono:%b year:%d)@."
-                            fname cstart n cend len range lang mono fb_year;
-                          for i = cstart to cend do
-                            L.stdout "  %s@." lines_arr.(i)
-                          done;
-                          L.stdout "-----@.";
-                          L.stdout "  @[<v>%a@]" (pp_copyright mono fb_year com_style) prefix;
-                          L.flush_streams ();
-                          if update_files then
-                            update_file fname mono fb_year com_style prefix cstart cend lines_arr
-                        end
-                end
-              else
-                L.stderr "Copyright not recognized: %s@." fname
-        end in
-  list_iter check_file (get_files_from_git ());
-  exit 0
+let check_copyright fname = match read_file fname with
+  | None -> ()
+  | Some lines ->
+      match find_copyright_line lines 0 with
+      | None ->
+          if file_should_have_copyright fname lines
+          then L.stderr "Copyright not found in %s@." fname
+      | Some n ->
+          let lines_arr = Array.of_list lines in
+          let line = lines_arr.(n) in
+          let len = String.length line in
+          let (cstart, com_style) = find_comment_start_and_style lines_arr n in
+          let cend = find_comment_end lines_arr n com_style in
+          if looks_like_copyright_message cstart cend lines_arr then
+            begin
+              let mono = contains_monoidics cstart cend lines_arr in
+              match get_fb_year cstart cend lines_arr with
+              | None ->
+                  L.stderr "Can't find fb year: %s@." fname
+              | Some fb_year ->
+                  let prefix = if com_style = comment_style_ocaml then " " else "" in
+                  if copyright_has_changed mono fb_year com_style prefix cstart cend lines_arr then
+                    begin
+                      let range = cend - cstart in
+                      let lang = lang_of_com_style com_style in
+                      L.stdout "%s (start:%d n:%d end:%d len:%d range:%d lang:%s mono:%b year:%d)@."
+                        fname cstart n cend len range lang mono fb_year;
+                      for i = cstart to cend do
+                        L.stdout "  %s@." lines_arr.(i)
+                      done;
+                      L.stdout "-----@.";
+                      L.stdout "  @[<v>%a@]" (pp_copyright mono fb_year com_style) prefix;
+                      L.flush_streams ();
+                      if !update_files then
+                        update_file fname mono fb_year com_style prefix cstart cend lines_arr
+                    end
+            end
+          else
+            L.stderr "Copyright not recognized: %s@." fname
+
+let speclist = [
+  ("-i", Arg.Set update_files, "Update copyright notice in-place");
+]
 
-let check () =
-  if active then check_copyright ()
+let usage_msg = "checkCopyright [-i] file1 ..."
+
+let () =
+  let to_check = ref [] in
+  let add_file_to_check fname =
+    to_check := fname :: !to_check in
+  Arg.parse speclist add_file_to_check usage_msg;
+  list_iter check_copyright (list_rev !to_check);
+  exit 0