diff --git a/proposal/myrmidon/src/java/org/apache/antlib/file/CopyTask.java b/proposal/myrmidon/src/java/org/apache/antlib/file/CopyTask.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..b3c1628ea
--- /dev/null
+++ b/proposal/myrmidon/src/java/org/apache/antlib/file/CopyTask.java
@@ -0,0 +1,466 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (C) The Apache Software Foundation. All rights reserved.
+ *
+ * This software is published under the terms of the Apache Software License
+ * version 1.1, a copy of which has been included  with this distribution in
+ * the LICENSE.txt file.
+ */
+package org.apache.antlib.file;
+
+import java.io.File;
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.HashMap;
+import java.util.Iterator;
+import java.util.Map;
+import org.apache.avalon.excalibur.i18n.ResourceManager;
+import org.apache.avalon.excalibur.i18n.Resources;
+import org.apache.avalon.excalibur.io.FileUtil;
+import org.apache.myrmidon.api.AbstractTask;
+import org.apache.myrmidon.api.TaskException;
+import org.apache.tools.ant.types.DirectoryScanner;
+import org.apache.tools.ant.types.FileSet;
+import org.apache.tools.ant.types.ScannerUtil;
+import org.apache.tools.ant.types.SourceFileScanner;
+import org.apache.tools.ant.util.mappers.FileNameMapper;
+import org.apache.tools.ant.util.mappers.FlatFileNameMapper;
+import org.apache.tools.ant.util.mappers.IdentityMapper;
+import org.apache.tools.ant.util.mappers.Mapper;
+
+/**
+ * This is a task used to copy files.
+ *
+ * @ant:task name="copy"
+ * @author <a href="mailto:peter@apache.org">Peter Donald</a>
+ * @author <a href="mailto:glennm@ca.ibm.com">Glenn McAllister</a>
+ * @author <a href="mailto:stefan.bodewig@epost.de">Stefan Bodewig</a>
+ * @author <A href="gholam@xtra.co.nz">Michael McCallum</A>
+ * @author <a href="mailto:umagesh@rediffmail.com">Magesh Umasankar</a>
+ * @version $Revision$ $Date$
+ */
+public class CopyTask
+    extends AbstractTask
+{
+    private final static Resources REZ =
+        ResourceManager.getPackageResources( CopyTask.class );
+
+    private File m_file;
+    private ArrayList m_filesets = new ArrayList();
+    private File m_destFile;
+    private File m_destDir;
+    private boolean m_preserveLastModified;
+    private boolean m_overwrite;
+    private boolean m_flatten;
+    private boolean m_includeEmpty = true;
+    private Mapper m_mapper;
+
+    private HashMap m_fileMap = new HashMap();
+    private HashMap m_dirMap = new HashMap();
+
+    /**
+     * Sets a single source file to copy.
+     */
+    public void setFile( final File file )
+    {
+        m_file = file;
+    }
+
+    public void addFileset( final FileSet set )
+    {
+        m_filesets.add( set );
+    }
+
+    public void setDestFile( final File destFile )
+    {
+        m_destFile = destFile;
+    }
+
+    public void setDestDir( final File destDir )
+    {
+        m_destDir = destDir;
+    }
+
+    public void setPreserveLastModified( boolean preserveLastModified )
+    {
+        m_preserveLastModified = preserveLastModified;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Overwrite any existing destination file(s).
+     */
+    public void setOverwrite( boolean overwrite )
+    {
+        m_overwrite = overwrite;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * When copying directory trees, the files can be "flattened" into a single
+     * directory. If there are multiple files with the same name in the source
+     * directory tree, only the first file will be copied into the "flattened"
+     * directory, unless the forceoverwrite attribute is true.
+     *
+     * @param flatten The new Flatten value
+     */
+    public void setFlatten( final boolean flatten )
+    {
+        m_flatten = flatten;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Defines the FileNameMapper to use (nested mapper element).
+     */
+    public void addMapper( final Mapper mapper )
+        throws TaskException
+    {
+        if( null != m_mapper )
+        {
+            final String message = "Cannot define more than one mapper";
+            throw new TaskException( message );
+        }
+        m_mapper = mapper;
+    }
+
+    public void execute()
+        throws TaskException
+    {
+        validate();
+
+        // deal with the single file
+        if( m_file != null )
+        {
+            if( null == m_destFile )
+            {
+                m_destFile = new File( m_destDir, m_file.getName() );
+            }
+
+            if( m_overwrite ||
+                ( m_file.lastModified() > m_destFile.lastModified() ) )
+            {
+                m_fileMap.put( m_file.getAbsolutePath(), m_destFile.getAbsolutePath() );
+            }
+            else
+            {
+                final String message =
+                    REZ.getString( "copy.omit-uptodate.notice", m_file, m_destFile );
+                getLogger().debug( message );
+            }
+        }
+
+        // deal with the filesets
+        final int size = m_filesets.size();
+        for( int i = 0; i < size; i++ )
+        {
+            final FileSet fileSet = (FileSet)m_filesets.get( i );
+            final DirectoryScanner scanner = ScannerUtil.getDirectoryScanner( fileSet );
+            final File fromDir = fileSet.getDir();
+
+            final String[] srcFiles = scanner.getIncludedFiles();
+            final String[] srcDirs = scanner.getIncludedDirectories();
+
+            scan( fromDir, m_destDir, srcFiles, srcDirs );
+        }
+
+        // do all the copy operations now...
+        doFileOperations( m_fileMap, m_dirMap );
+    }
+
+    protected void validate()
+        throws TaskException
+    {
+        final int fileSetSize = m_filesets.size();
+
+        if( null == m_file && 0 == fileSetSize )
+        {
+            final String message = REZ.getString( "copy.missing-src.error" );
+            throw new TaskException( message );
+        }
+
+        if( null != m_destFile && null != m_destDir )
+        {
+            final String message = REZ.getString( "copy.one-dest-only.error" );
+            throw new TaskException( message );
+        }
+
+        if( null != m_file && m_file.exists() && m_file.isDirectory() )
+        {
+            final String message = REZ.getString( "copy.fileset-for-dirs.error" );
+            throw new TaskException( message );
+        }
+
+        if( null != m_destFile && fileSetSize > 0 )
+        {
+            if( fileSetSize > 1 )
+            {
+                final String message = REZ.getString( "copy.need-destdir.error" );
+                throw new TaskException( message );
+            }
+            else
+            {
+                final FileSet fileSet = (FileSet)m_filesets.get( 0 );
+                final DirectoryScanner scanner = ScannerUtil.getDirectoryScanner( fileSet );
+                final String[] srcFiles = scanner.getIncludedFiles();
+
+                if( srcFiles.length > 0 )
+                {
+                    if( m_file == null )
+                    {
+                        m_file = new File( srcFiles[ 0 ] );
+                        m_filesets.remove( 0 );
+                    }
+                    else
+                    {
+                        final String message = REZ.getString( "copy.bad-mapping.error" );
+                        throw new TaskException( message );
+                    }
+                }
+                else
+                {
+                    final String message = REZ.getString( "copy.bad-operation.error" );
+                    throw new TaskException( message );
+                }
+            }
+        }
+
+        if( null != m_file && !m_file.exists() )
+        {
+            final String message =
+                REZ.getString( "copy.missing-file.error", m_file.getAbsolutePath() );
+            throw new TaskException( message );
+        }
+
+        if( null != m_destFile )
+        {
+            m_destDir = m_destFile.getParentFile();
+        }
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Compares source files to destination files to see if they should be
+     * copied.
+     */
+    private void scan( final File sourceDir,
+                       final File destDir,
+                       final String[] files,
+                       final String[] dirs )
+        throws TaskException
+    {
+        final FileNameMapper mapper = getFilenameMapper();
+
+        buildMap( sourceDir, destDir, files, mapper, m_fileMap );
+
+        if( m_includeEmpty )
+        {
+            buildMap( sourceDir, destDir, dirs, mapper, m_dirMap );
+        }
+    }
+
+    private void buildMap( final File sourceDir,
+                           final File destDir,
+                           final String[] files,
+                           final FileNameMapper mapper,
+                           final Map map )
+        throws TaskException
+    {
+        final String[] toCopy = buildFilenameList( files, mapper, sourceDir, destDir );
+        for( int i = 0; i < toCopy.length; i++ )
+        {
+            final String destFilename = mapper.mapFileName( toCopy[ i ] )[ 0 ];
+            final File source = new File( sourceDir, toCopy[ i ] );
+            final File destination = new File( destDir, destFilename );
+            map.put( source.getAbsolutePath(), destination.getAbsolutePath() );
+        }
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Utility method to build up a list of files needed between both
+     * but only getting the files that need updating (unless overwrite is true).
+     */
+    private String[] buildFilenameList( final String[] names,
+                                        final FileNameMapper mapper,
+                                        final File fromDir,
+                                        final File toDir )
+        throws TaskException
+    {
+        if( m_overwrite )
+        {
+            final ArrayList list = new ArrayList( names.length );
+            for( int i = 0; i < names.length; i++ )
+            {
+                final String name = names[ i ];
+                if( null != mapper.mapFileName( name ) )
+                {
+                    list.add( name );
+                }
+            }
+
+            return (String[])list.toArray( new String[ list.size() ] );
+        }
+        else
+        {
+            final SourceFileScanner scanner = new SourceFileScanner();
+            setupLogger( scanner );
+            return scanner.restrict( names, fromDir, toDir, mapper );
+        }
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Perform the oepration on all the files (and possibly empty directorys).
+     */
+    private void doFileOperations( final Map fileCopyMap, final Map dirCopyMap )
+        throws TaskException
+    {
+        final int fileCount = fileCopyMap.size();
+        if( fileCount > 0 )
+        {
+            doOperationOnFiles( fileCopyMap );
+        }
+
+        if( m_includeEmpty )
+        {
+            doOperationOnDirs( dirCopyMap );
+        }
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * perform operation on files.
+     */
+    private void doOperationOnFiles( final Map fileMap )
+        throws TaskException
+    {
+        final int fileCount = fileMap.size();
+        displayFilecountNotice( fileCount );
+
+        final Iterator names = fileMap.keySet().iterator();
+        while( names.hasNext() )
+        {
+            final String source = (String)names.next();
+            final String destination = (String)fileMap.get( source );
+
+            if( source.equals( destination ) )
+            {
+                final String message =
+                    REZ.getString( "copy.selfcopy-ignored.notice", source );
+                getLogger().info( message );
+                continue;
+            }
+
+            try
+            {
+                final String message =
+                    REZ.getString( "copy.filecopy.notice", source, destination );
+                getLogger().info( message );
+
+                doOperation( source, destination );
+            }
+            catch( final IOException ioe )
+            {
+                final String message =
+                    REZ.getString( "copy.filecopy.error", source, destination, ioe );
+                throw new TaskException( message, ioe );
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * perform operation on directories.
+     */
+    private void doOperationOnDirs( final Map dirMap )
+    {
+        final Iterator dirs = dirMap.values().iterator();
+        int count = 0;
+        while( dirs.hasNext() )
+        {
+            final String pathname = (String)dirs.next();
+            final File dir = new File( pathname );
+            if( !dir.exists() )
+            {
+                if( !dir.mkdirs() )
+                {
+                    final String message =
+                        REZ.getString( "copy.dircopy.error", dir.getAbsolutePath() );
+                    getLogger().error( message );
+                }
+                else
+                {
+                    count++;
+                }
+            }
+        }
+
+        if( count > 0 )
+        {
+            displayDirCopyNotice( count );
+        }
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Utility method to determine and retrieve FilenameMapper.
+     */
+    private FileNameMapper getFilenameMapper()
+        throws TaskException
+    {
+        if( null != m_mapper )
+        {
+            return m_mapper.getImplementation();
+        }
+        else if( m_flatten )
+        {
+            return new FlatFileNameMapper();
+        }
+        else
+        {
+            return new IdentityMapper();
+        }
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Utility method to perform operation to transform a single source file
+     * to a destination.
+     */
+    private void doOperation( final String sourceFilename,
+                              final String destinationFilename )
+        throws IOException
+    {
+        final File source = new File( sourceFilename );
+        final File destination = new File( destinationFilename );
+
+        if( m_overwrite )
+        {
+            FileUtil.forceDelete( destination );
+        }
+
+        FileUtil.copyFile( source, destination );
+
+        if( m_preserveLastModified )
+        {
+            destination.setLastModified( source.lastModified() );
+        }
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Utility method to display notice about how many dirs copied.
+     */
+    private void displayDirCopyNotice( final int count )
+    {
+        final String message =
+            REZ.getString( "copy.dir-count.notice",
+                           new Integer( count ),
+                           m_destDir.getAbsolutePath() );
+        getLogger().info( message );
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Utility method to display notice about how many files copied.
+     */
+    private void displayFilecountNotice( final int count )
+    {
+        if( getLogger().isInfoEnabled() )
+        {
+            final String message =
+                REZ.getString( "copy.file-count.notice",
+                               new Integer( count ),
+                               m_destDir.getAbsolutePath() );
+            getLogger().info( message );
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/proposal/myrmidon/src/java/org/apache/antlib/file/Resources.properties b/proposal/myrmidon/src/java/org/apache/antlib/file/Resources.properties
index 29552e401..e0910e0e2 100644
--- a/proposal/myrmidon/src/java/org/apache/antlib/file/Resources.properties
+++ b/proposal/myrmidon/src/java/org/apache/antlib/file/Resources.properties
@@ -19,3 +19,18 @@ delete.delete-file.notice=Deleting {0}.
 delete.delete-file.error=Unable to delete file {0}.
 delete.delete-file.error=Deleting {0} files from {1}.
 delete.summary.notice=Deleted {0,choice,0#zero directories|1#1 directory|2<{0} directories} from {1}.
+
+copy.omit-uptodate.notice={0} omitted as {1} is up to date.
+copy.missing-src.error=No source file or fileset specified.
+copy.one-dest-only.error=Only one of destFile or destDir may be set.
+copy.fileset-for-dirs.error=Use a fileset to copy directories.
+copy.need-destdir.error=Cannot copy multiple files into a single file.
+copy.bad-mapping.error=Cannot concatenate multiple files into a single file.
+copy.bad-operation.error=Cannot perform operation from directory to file.
+copy.missing-file.error=Could not find file {0} to copy.
+copy.dir-count.notice=Copied {0} empty director{0,choice,1#y|2<ies} to {1}.
+copy.file-count.notice=Copying {0} file{0,choice,1#|2<s} to {1}.
+copy.dircopy.error=Unable to create directory {0}.
+copy.filecopy.error=Failed to copy {0} to {1} due to {3}.
+copy.filecopy.notice=Copying {0} to {1}.
+copy.selfcopy-ignored.notice=Skipping self-copy of {0}.
\ No newline at end of file