diff --git a/bin/logdaemon.py b/bin/logdaemon.py
index 7178fd28..6bf41f5d 100644
--- a/bin/logdaemon.py
+++ b/bin/logdaemon.py
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python
 #
-# Copyright 2011-2018 Ghent University
+# Copyright 2011-2019 Ghent University
 #
 # This file is part of vsc-base,
 # originally created by the HPC team of Ghent University (http://ugent.be/hpc/en),
diff --git a/lib/vsc/__init__.py b/lib/vsc/__init__.py
index 06eaee87..b28f931b 100644
--- a/lib/vsc/__init__.py
+++ b/lib/vsc/__init__.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #
-# Copyright 2015-2018 Ghent University
+# Copyright 2015-2019 Ghent University
 #
 # This file is part of vsc-base,
 # originally created by the HPC team of Ghent University (http://ugent.be/hpc/en),
diff --git a/lib/vsc/utils/__init__.py b/lib/vsc/utils/__init__.py
index 06eaee87..b28f931b 100644
--- a/lib/vsc/utils/__init__.py
+++ b/lib/vsc/utils/__init__.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #
-# Copyright 2015-2018 Ghent University
+# Copyright 2015-2019 Ghent University
 #
 # This file is part of vsc-base,
 # originally created by the HPC team of Ghent University (http://ugent.be/hpc/en),
diff --git a/lib/vsc/utils/affinity.py b/lib/vsc/utils/affinity.py
index 53b472bb..da3296e4 100644
--- a/lib/vsc/utils/affinity.py
+++ b/lib/vsc/utils/affinity.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #
-# Copyright 2012-2018 Ghent University
+# Copyright 2012-2019 Ghent University
 #
 # This file is part of vsc-base,
 # originally created by the HPC team of Ghent University (http://ugent.be/hpc/en),
diff --git a/lib/vsc/utils/dateandtime.py b/lib/vsc/utils/dateandtime.py
index c7e21d0c..a13f488a 100644
--- a/lib/vsc/utils/dateandtime.py
+++ b/lib/vsc/utils/dateandtime.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #
-# Copyright 2012-2018 Ghent University
+# Copyright 2012-2019 Ghent University
 #
 # This file is part of vsc-base,
 # originally created by the HPC team of Ghent University (http://ugent.be/hpc/en),
diff --git a/lib/vsc/utils/docs.py b/lib/vsc/utils/docs.py
index fb5d7acb..2bddbcbf 100644
--- a/lib/vsc/utils/docs.py
+++ b/lib/vsc/utils/docs.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #
-# Copyright 2015-2018 Ghent University
+# Copyright 2015-2019 Ghent University
 #
 # This file is part of vsc-base,
 # originally created by the HPC team of Ghent University (http://ugent.be/hpc/en),
diff --git a/lib/vsc/utils/exceptions.py b/lib/vsc/utils/exceptions.py
index 70478d6f..16644e6e 100644
--- a/lib/vsc/utils/exceptions.py
+++ b/lib/vsc/utils/exceptions.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #
-# Copyright 2015-2018 Ghent University
+# Copyright 2015-2019 Ghent University
 #
 # This file is part of vsc-base,
 # originally created by the HPC team of Ghent University (http://ugent.be/hpc/en),
diff --git a/lib/vsc/utils/fancylogger.py b/lib/vsc/utils/fancylogger.py
index 957e8ee8..bdff4760 100644
--- a/lib/vsc/utils/fancylogger.py
+++ b/lib/vsc/utils/fancylogger.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #
-# Copyright 2011-2018 Ghent University
+# Copyright 2011-2019 Ghent University
 #
 # This file is part of vsc-base,
 # originally created by the HPC team of Ghent University (http://ugent.be/hpc/en),
diff --git a/lib/vsc/utils/generaloption.py b/lib/vsc/utils/generaloption.py
index 530c494b..c5d53994 100644
--- a/lib/vsc/utils/generaloption.py
+++ b/lib/vsc/utils/generaloption.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #
-# Copyright 2011-2018 Ghent University
+# Copyright 2011-2019 Ghent University
 #
 # This file is part of vsc-base,
 # originally created by the HPC team of Ghent University (http://ugent.be/hpc/en),
diff --git a/lib/vsc/utils/mail.py b/lib/vsc/utils/mail.py
index f4e091c0..8f3a878e 100644
--- a/lib/vsc/utils/mail.py
+++ b/lib/vsc/utils/mail.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #
-# Copyright 2012-2018 Ghent University
+# Copyright 2012-2019 Ghent University
 #
 # This file is part of vsc-base,
 # originally created by the HPC team of Ghent University (http://ugent.be/hpc/en),
diff --git a/lib/vsc/utils/missing.py b/lib/vsc/utils/missing.py
index 47a78970..64f37cfd 100644
--- a/lib/vsc/utils/missing.py
+++ b/lib/vsc/utils/missing.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #
-# Copyright 2012-2018 Ghent University
+# Copyright 2012-2019 Ghent University
 #
 # This file is part of vsc-base,
 # originally created by the HPC team of Ghent University (http://ugent.be/hpc/en),
diff --git a/lib/vsc/utils/patterns.py b/lib/vsc/utils/patterns.py
index e517c758..3220304f 100644
--- a/lib/vsc/utils/patterns.py
+++ b/lib/vsc/utils/patterns.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #
-# Copyright 2012-2018 Ghent University
+# Copyright 2012-2019 Ghent University
 #
 # This file is part of vsc-base,
 # originally created by the HPC team of Ghent University (http://ugent.be/hpc/en),
diff --git a/lib/vsc/utils/rest.py b/lib/vsc/utils/rest.py
index 9db99899..c0b3cd83 100644
--- a/lib/vsc/utils/rest.py
+++ b/lib/vsc/utils/rest.py
@@ -174,11 +174,14 @@ def request(self, method, url, body, headers, content_type=None):
         # TODO: in recent python: Context manager
         conn = self.get_connection(method, url, body, headers)
         status = conn.code
-        body = conn.read()
-        try:
-            pybody = json.loads(body)
-        except ValueError:
-            pybody = body
+        if method == self.HEAD:
+            pybody = conn.headers
+        else:
+            body = conn.read()
+            try:
+                pybody = json.loads(body)
+            except ValueError:
+                pybody = body
         fancylogger.getLogger().debug('reponse len: %s ', len(pybody))
         conn.close()
         return status, pybody
diff --git a/lib/vsc/utils/run.py b/lib/vsc/utils/run.py
index d871aeb8..aaa3022a 100644
--- a/lib/vsc/utils/run.py
+++ b/lib/vsc/utils/run.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #
-# Copyright 2009-2018 Ghent University
+# Copyright 2009-2019 Ghent University
 #
 # This file is part of vsc-base,
 # originally created by the HPC team of Ghent University (http://ugent.be/hpc/en),
diff --git a/lib/vsc/utils/testing.py b/lib/vsc/utils/testing.py
index 28f0a6e9..60ba537f 100644
--- a/lib/vsc/utils/testing.py
+++ b/lib/vsc/utils/testing.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #
-# Copyright 2014-2018 Ghent University
+# Copyright 2014-2019 Ghent University
 #
 # This file is part of vsc-base,
 # originally created by the HPC team of Ghent University (http://ugent.be/hpc/en),
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index db089ae5..c9b75353 100755
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@
 ]
 
 PACKAGE = {
-    'version': '2.8.3',
+    'version': '2.8.4',
     'author': [sdw, jt, ag, kh],
     'maintainer': [sdw, jt, ag, kh],
     # as long as 1.0.0 is not out, vsc-base should still provide vsc.fancylogger
diff --git a/test/00-import.py b/test/00-import.py
index 27b778b1..edb4240a 100644
--- a/test/00-import.py
+++ b/test/00-import.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #
-# Copyright 2016-2017 Ghent University
+# Copyright 2016-2019 Ghent University
 #
 # This file is part of vsc-base,
 # originally created by the HPC team of Ghent University (http://ugent.be/hpc/en),
diff --git a/test/__init__.py b/test/__init__.py
index 68717477..17aeb639 100644
--- a/test/__init__.py
+++ b/test/__init__.py
@@ -1,16 +1,28 @@
-##
-# Copyright 2012-2015 Ghent University
 #
-# This file is part of ,
+# Copyright 2012-2019 Ghent University
+#
+# This file is part of vsc-base,
 # originally created by the HPC team of Ghent University (http://ugent.be/hpc/en),
 # with support of Ghent University (http://ugent.be/hpc),
-# the Flemish Supercomputer Centre (VSC) (https://vscentrum.be/nl/en),
-# the Hercules foundation (http://www.herculesstichting.be/in_English)
+# the Flemish Supercomputer Centre (VSC) (https://www.vscentrum.be),
+# the Flemish Research Foundation (FWO) (http://www.fwo.be/en)
 # and the Department of Economy, Science and Innovation (EWI) (http://www.ewi-vlaanderen.be/en).
 #
-# All rights reserved.
+# https://github.com/hpcugent/vsc-base
+#
+# vsc-base is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+# it under the terms of the GNU Library General Public License as
+# published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 2 of
+# the License, or (at your option) any later version.
+#
+# vsc-base is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
+# GNU Library General Public License for more details.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU Library General Public License
+# along with vsc-base. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
 #
-##
 """
 Init
 """
diff --git a/test/asyncprocess.py b/test/asyncprocess.py
index 1dadf126..2ccaff20 100644
--- a/test/asyncprocess.py
+++ b/test/asyncprocess.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #
-# Copyright 2012-2017 Ghent University
+# Copyright 2012-2019 Ghent University
 #
 # This file is part of vsc-base,
 # originally created by the HPC team of Ghent University (http://ugent.be/hpc/en),
diff --git a/test/dateandtime.py b/test/dateandtime.py
index b87507d6..55bd9f3a 100644
--- a/test/dateandtime.py
+++ b/test/dateandtime.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #
-# Copyright 2012-2017 Ghent University
+# Copyright 2012-2019 Ghent University
 #
 # This file is part of vsc-base,
 # originally created by the HPC team of Ghent University (http://ugent.be/hpc/en),
diff --git a/test/docs.py b/test/docs.py
index c1551711..70c200ed 100644
--- a/test/docs.py
+++ b/test/docs.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #
-# Copyright 2015-2017 Ghent University
+# Copyright 2015-2019 Ghent University
 #
 # This file is part of vsc-base,
 # originally created by the HPC team of Ghent University (http://ugent.be/hpc/en),
diff --git a/test/exceptions.py b/test/exceptions.py
index c414f4ab..46e8d6cd 100644
--- a/test/exceptions.py
+++ b/test/exceptions.py
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
 #
-# Copyright 2015-2017 Ghent University
+# Copyright 2015-2019 Ghent University
 #
 # This file is part of vsc-base,
 # originally created by the HPC team of Ghent University (http://ugent.be/hpc/en),
diff --git a/test/fancylogger.py b/test/fancylogger.py
index 4381a5e2..a1d197f1 100644
--- a/test/fancylogger.py
+++ b/test/fancylogger.py
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
 #
-# Copyright 2013-2017 Ghent University
+# Copyright 2013-2019 Ghent University
 #
 # This file is part of vsc-base,
 # originally created by the HPC team of Ghent University (http://ugent.be/hpc/en),
diff --git a/test/generaloption.py b/test/generaloption.py
index c52cf779..a6d66154 100644
--- a/test/generaloption.py
+++ b/test/generaloption.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #
-# Copyright 2012-2018 Ghent University
+# Copyright 2012-2019 Ghent University
 #
 # This file is part of vsc-base,
 # originally created by the HPC team of Ghent University (http://ugent.be/hpc/en),
diff --git a/test/missing.py b/test/missing.py
index 2fa2c4f9..b58ff009 100644
--- a/test/missing.py
+++ b/test/missing.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #
-# Copyright 2012-2017 Ghent University
+# Copyright 2012-2019 Ghent University
 #
 # This file is part of vsc-base,
 # originally created by the HPC team of Ghent University (http://ugent.be/hpc/en),
diff --git a/test/optcomplete.py b/test/optcomplete.py
index 14f0a0ca..a7bfb61e 100644
--- a/test/optcomplete.py
+++ b/test/optcomplete.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #
-# Copyright 2013-2017 Ghent University
+# Copyright 2013-2019 Ghent University
 #
 # This file is part of vsc-base,
 # originally created by the HPC team of Ghent University (http://ugent.be/hpc/en),
diff --git a/test/rest.py b/test/rest.py
index cab451a4..b5788494 100644
--- a/test/rest.py
+++ b/test/rest.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #
-# Copyright 2014-2017 Ghent University
+# Copyright 2014-2019 Ghent University
 #
 # This file is part of vsc-base,
 # originally created by the HPC team of Ghent University (http://ugent.be/hpc/en),
@@ -71,8 +71,10 @@ def test_client(self):
 
     def test_request_methods(self):
         """Test all request methods"""
-        status, body = self.client.head()
+        status, headers = self.client.head()
         self.assertEqual(status, 200)
+        self.assertTrue(headers)
+        self.assertTrue('X-GitHub-Media-Type' in headers)
         try:
             status, body = self.client.user.emails.post(body='jens.timmerman@ugent.be')
             self.assertTrue(False, 'posting to unauthorized endpoint did not trhow a http error')
diff --git a/test/run.py b/test/run.py
index 815e7af2..20d165ec 100644
--- a/test/run.py
+++ b/test/run.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #
-# Copyright 2012-2017 Ghent University
+# Copyright 2012-2019 Ghent University
 #
 # This file is part of vsc-base,
 # originally created by the HPC team of Ghent University (http://ugent.be/hpc/en),
diff --git a/test/runtests/qa.py b/test/runtests/qa.py
index 2f0d1bfa..9ddfbfa4 100755
--- a/test/runtests/qa.py
+++ b/test/runtests/qa.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #
-# Copyright 2016-2017 Ghent University
+# Copyright 2016-2019 Ghent University
 #
 # This file is part of vsc-base,
 # originally created by the HPC team of Ghent University (http://ugent.be/hpc/en),
diff --git a/test/runtests/simple.py b/test/runtests/simple.py
index 5eafe136..26c52936 100755
--- a/test/runtests/simple.py
+++ b/test/runtests/simple.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #
-# Copyright 2016-2017 Ghent University
+# Copyright 2016-2019 Ghent University
 #
 # This file is part of vsc-base,
 # originally created by the HPC team of Ghent University (http://ugent.be/hpc/en),
diff --git a/test/runtests/simple_option.py b/test/runtests/simple_option.py
index f6fe6dab..577f480c 100755
--- a/test/runtests/simple_option.py
+++ b/test/runtests/simple_option.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #
-# Copyright 2011-2017 Ghent University
+# Copyright 2011-2019 Ghent University
 #
 # This file is part of vsc-base,
 # originally created by the HPC team of Ghent University (http://ugent.be/hpc/en),
diff --git a/test/sandbox/testpkg/__init__.py b/test/sandbox/testpkg/__init__.py
index bb7019a5..e8c3397c 100644
--- a/test/sandbox/testpkg/__init__.py
+++ b/test/sandbox/testpkg/__init__.py
@@ -1,4 +1,29 @@
 #
+# Copyright 2019-2019 Ghent University
+#
+# This file is part of vsc-base,
+# originally created by the HPC team of Ghent University (http://ugent.be/hpc/en),
+# with support of Ghent University (http://ugent.be/hpc),
+# the Flemish Supercomputer Centre (VSC) (https://www.vscentrum.be),
+# the Flemish Research Foundation (FWO) (http://www.fwo.be/en)
+# and the Department of Economy, Science and Innovation (EWI) (http://www.ewi-vlaanderen.be/en).
+#
+# https://github.com/hpcugent/vsc-base
+#
+# vsc-base is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+# it under the terms of the GNU Library General Public License as
+# published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 2 of
+# the License, or (at your option) any later version.
+#
+# vsc-base is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
+# GNU Library General Public License for more details.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU Library General Public License
+# along with vsc-base. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+#
+#
 # Copyright 2016-2017 Ghent University
 #
 # This file is part of vsc-base,
diff --git a/test/sandbox/testpkg/testmodule.py b/test/sandbox/testpkg/testmodule.py
index 93754668..4658ff8d 100644
--- a/test/sandbox/testpkg/testmodule.py
+++ b/test/sandbox/testpkg/testmodule.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #
-# Copyright 2014-2017 Ghent University
+# Copyright 2014-2019 Ghent University
 #
 # This file is part of vsc-base,
 # originally created by the HPC team of Ghent University (http://ugent.be/hpc/en),
diff --git a/test/sandbox/testpkg/testmodulebis.py b/test/sandbox/testpkg/testmodulebis.py
index fd07b9dc..7ed2c183 100644
--- a/test/sandbox/testpkg/testmodulebis.py
+++ b/test/sandbox/testpkg/testmodulebis.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #
-# Copyright 2014-2017 Ghent University
+# Copyright 2014-2019 Ghent University
 #
 # This file is part of vsc-base,
 # originally created by the HPC team of Ghent University (http://ugent.be/hpc/en),
diff --git a/test/testing.py b/test/testing.py
index 95ccc057..9910b5da 100644
--- a/test/testing.py
+++ b/test/testing.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #
-# Copyright 2012-2017 Ghent University
+# Copyright 2012-2019 Ghent University
 #
 # This file is part of vsc-base,
 # originally created by the HPC team of Ghent University (http://ugent.be/hpc/en),
diff --git a/test/wrapper.py b/test/wrapper.py
index 836561e8..4765f084 100644
--- a/test/wrapper.py
+++ b/test/wrapper.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #
-# Copyright 2014-2017 Ghent University
+# Copyright 2014-2019 Ghent University
 #
 # This file is part of vsc-base,
 # originally created by the HPC team of Ghent University (http://ugent.be/hpc/en),