diff --git a/functions/customizer.php b/functions/customizer.php
index 96059f7..3fc1ed0 100755
--- a/functions/customizer.php
+++ b/functions/customizer.php
@@ -479,9 +479,10 @@ $wp_customize->add_panel( 'portage', array(
 	) );
 
 	$wp_customize->add_setting( 'portage_copyright', array(
-		'type'           => 'theme_mod',
-		'transport'      => 'postMessage',
-		'sanitize_callback'       => 'html',
+		'type'                => 'theme_mod',
+		'transport'           => 'postMessage',
+		'default'             => $default_copyright,
+		'sanitize_callback'   => 'wp_kses_post',
 	) );
 
 $default_copyright = '<a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/"><img alt="Creative Commons License" id="cc-button" src="https://i.creativecommons.org/l/by-nc-sa/4.0/88x31.png" /></a>This work is licensed under a <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License</a>.';