diff --git a/CHANGES b/CHANGES
index 07bc8157ef1..bbea8709bcf 100644
--- a/CHANGES
+++ b/CHANGES
@@ -33,6 +33,8 @@ Features added
   This behaviour may also be controlled by options on object description
   directives, for example :rst:dir:`py:function:single-line-parameter-list`.
   Patch by Thomas Louf, Adam Turner, and Jean-François Burnol.
+* #10983: Support for multiline copyright statements in the footer block.
+  Patch by Stefanie Molin
 
 Bugs fixed
 ----------
diff --git a/doc/_themes/sphinx13/layout.html b/doc/_themes/sphinx13/layout.html
index 8010517a69a..86a794306b9 100644
--- a/doc/_themes/sphinx13/layout.html
+++ b/doc/_themes/sphinx13/layout.html
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ <h3>{{ _('Site navigation') }}</h3>
 
 {%- block footer %}
 <div class="footer" role="contentinfo">
-  {% trans path=pathto('copyright'), copyright=copyright|e %}&#169; <a href="{{ path }}">Copyright</a> {{ copyright }}.{% endtrans %}
+  {{ copyright_block() }}
   {% trans sphinx_version=sphinx_version|e %}Created using <a href="https://www.sphinx-doc.org/">Sphinx</a> {{ sphinx_version }}.{% endtrans %}
 </div>
 {%- endblock %}
diff --git a/doc/usage/configuration.rst b/doc/usage/configuration.rst
index 1fc4c674b4c..133e2099df9 100644
--- a/doc/usage/configuration.rst
+++ b/doc/usage/configuration.rst
@@ -73,6 +73,10 @@ Project information
 
    A copyright statement in the style ``'2008, Author Name'``.
 
+   .. versionchanged:: 7.1
+      The value may now be a sequence of copyright statements in the above form,
+      which will be displayed each to their own line.
+
 .. confval:: project_copyright
 
    An alias of :confval:`copyright`.
diff --git a/sphinx/config.py b/sphinx/config.py
index a4e66193493..b8cf1eda2ca 100644
--- a/sphinx/config.py
+++ b/sphinx/config.py
@@ -89,8 +89,8 @@ class Config:
         # general options
         'project': ('Python', 'env', []),
         'author': ('unknown', 'env', []),
-        'project_copyright': ('', 'html', [str]),
-        'copyright': (lambda c: c.project_copyright, 'html', [str]),
+        'project_copyright': ('', 'html', [str, tuple, list]),
+        'copyright': (lambda c: c.project_copyright, 'html', [str, tuple, list]),
         'version': ('', 'env', []),
         'release': ('', 'env', []),
         'today': ('', 'env', []),
diff --git a/sphinx/themes/basic/layout.html b/sphinx/themes/basic/layout.html
index f3088f79a95..79eb02de8ec 100644
--- a/sphinx/themes/basic/layout.html
+++ b/sphinx/themes/basic/layout.html
@@ -183,14 +183,30 @@ <h3>{{ _('Navigation') }}</h3>
 
 {%- block relbar2 %}{{ relbar() }}{% endblock %}
 
+{%- macro copyright_block() %}
+  {%- if hasdoc('copyright') %}
+    {%- set copyright_prefix = '<a href="' + pathto('copyright') + '">' + _('Copyright') + '</a>' -%}
+  {%- else %}
+    {%- set copyright_prefix = _('Copyright') %}
+  {%- endif %}
+  {%- if copyright is iterable and copyright is not string %}
+    {% for copyright_line in copyright %}
+      {% trans trimmed copyright_prefix=copyright_prefix, copyright=copyright_line|e %}
+        &#169; {{ copyright_prefix }} {{ copyright }}.
+      {% endtrans %}
+      {%- if not loop.last %}<br/>{%- endif %}
+    {% endfor %}
+  {%- else %}
+    {% trans trimmed copyright_prefix=copyright_prefix, copyright=copyright|e %}
+      &#169; {{ copyright_prefix }} {{ copyright }}.
+    {% endtrans %}
+  {%- endif %}
+{%- endmacro %}
+
 {%- block footer %}
     <div class="footer" role="contentinfo">
     {%- if show_copyright %}
-      {%- if hasdoc('copyright') %}
-        {% trans path=pathto('copyright'), copyright=copyright|e %}&#169; <a href="{{ path }}">Copyright</a> {{ copyright }}.{% endtrans %}
-      {%- else %}
-        {% trans copyright=copyright|e %}&#169; Copyright {{ copyright }}.{% endtrans %}
-      {%- endif %}
+        {{- copyright_block() -}}
     {%- endif %}
     {%- if last_updated %}
       {% trans last_updated=last_updated|e %}Last updated on {{ last_updated }}.{% endtrans %}
diff --git a/tests/roots/test-copyright-multiline/conf.py b/tests/roots/test-copyright-multiline/conf.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..24bd0c5291f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/roots/test-copyright-multiline/conf.py
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+copyright = (
+    '2006-2009, Alice',
+    '2010-2013, Bob',
+    '2014-2017, Charlie',
+    '2018-2021, David',
+    '2022-2025, Eve',
+)
+html_theme = 'basic'
diff --git a/tests/roots/test-copyright-multiline/index.rst b/tests/roots/test-copyright-multiline/index.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..aa32ae60f4a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/roots/test-copyright-multiline/index.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+========================
+test-copyright-multiline
+========================
diff --git a/tests/test_config.py b/tests/test_config.py
index ec5d0948f2e..f01ea0c32d2 100644
--- a/tests/test_config.py
+++ b/tests/test_config.py
@@ -442,3 +442,25 @@ def test_conf_py_nitpick_ignore_list(tempdir):
     # Then the default nitpick_ignore[_regex] is an empty list
     assert cfg.nitpick_ignore == []
     assert cfg.nitpick_ignore_regex == []
+
+
+@pytest.mark.sphinx(testroot='copyright-multiline')
+def test_multi_line_copyright(app, status, warning):
+    app.builder.build_all()
+
+    content = (app.outdir / 'index.html').read_text(encoding='utf-8')
+
+    assert '      &#169; Copyright 2006-2009, Alice.<br/>' in content
+    assert '      &#169; Copyright 2010-2013, Bob.<br/>' in content
+    assert '      &#169; Copyright 2014-2017, Charlie.<br/>' in content
+    assert '      &#169; Copyright 2018-2021, David.<br/>' in content
+    assert '      &#169; Copyright 2022-2025, Eve.' in content
+
+    lines = (
+        '      &#169; Copyright 2006-2009, Alice.<br/>\n    \n'
+        '      &#169; Copyright 2010-2013, Bob.<br/>\n    \n'
+        '      &#169; Copyright 2014-2017, Charlie.<br/>\n    \n'
+        '      &#169; Copyright 2018-2021, David.<br/>\n    \n'
+        '      &#169; Copyright 2022-2025, Eve.\n    \n'
+    )
+    assert lines in content