diff --git a/app/api/model-labels/route.ts b/app/api/model-labels/route.ts
index 0a1cd776..415b8d53 100644
--- a/app/api/model-labels/route.ts
+++ b/app/api/model-labels/route.ts
@@ -46,7 +46,18 @@ export async function PUT(request: NextRequest) {
   const config: ModelLabelsConfig = {
     labels: normalizeModelLabels((body as { labels?: unknown }).labels as Record<string, unknown>),
   };
-  await writeModelLabels(config);
+  try {
+    await writeModelLabels(config, token);
+  } catch (err) {
+    const status =
+      err &&
+      typeof err === 'object' &&
+      'status' in err &&
+      typeof (err as { status: unknown }).status === 'number'
+        ? (err as { status: number }).status
+        : 502;
+    return NextResponse.json({ error: 'Failed to update site labels' }, { status });
+  }
   revalidatePath('/', 'layout');
   return NextResponse.json(config);
 }
diff --git a/app/backoffice/translations/page.tsx b/app/backoffice/translations/page.tsx
index 47ea9613..e01dca62 100644
--- a/app/backoffice/translations/page.tsx
+++ b/app/backoffice/translations/page.tsx
@@ -31,14 +31,19 @@ const generalConfigFieldMeta: Array<{ key: ModelLabelKey; title: string; descrip
     description: 'The short strapline shown next to the site title in the header.',
   },
   {
-    key: 'footerFunded',
-    title: 'Footer: Funding Statement',
-    description: 'The funding acknowledgement shown in the footer.',
+    key: 'footerLine1',
+    title: 'Footer: Line 1',
+    description: 'The first line of footer text.',
   },
   {
-    key: 'footerCopyright',
-    title: 'Footer: Copyright Notice',
-    description: 'The copyright notice shown at the bottom of the footer.',
+    key: 'footerLine2',
+    title: 'Footer: Line 2',
+    description: 'The second line of footer text.',
+  },
+  {
+    key: 'footerBottomLine',
+    title: 'Footer: Bottom Line',
+    description: 'The copyright/attribution notice shown at the bottom of the footer.',
   },
 ];
 
diff --git a/components/layout/footer.tsx b/components/layout/footer.tsx
index 70f98b80..58cd3613 100644
--- a/components/layout/footer.tsx
+++ b/components/layout/footer.tsx
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ export default async function Footer() {
     getPublishedPages(),
   ]);
   const locale = rawLocale as ModelLabelLocale;
-  const getLabel = (key: 'siteTitle' | 'footerFunded' | 'footerCopyright') =>
+  const getLabel = (key: 'siteTitle' | 'footerLine1' | 'footerLine2' | 'footerBottomLine') =>
     resolveModelLabel(modelLabels.labels[key], locale);
   const quickLinkPages = pages
     .filter((page) => page.include_in_quick_link)
@@ -76,8 +76,8 @@ export default async function Footer() {
             <h2 className="font-serif text-lg font-semibold tracking-tight">
               {getLabel('siteTitle')}
             </h2>
-            <p className="text-sm text-primary-foreground/85 leading-relaxed">{t('about')}</p>
-            <p className="text-sm text-primary-foreground/85">{getLabel('footerFunded')}</p>
+            <p className="text-sm text-primary-foreground/85">{getLabel('footerLine1')}</p>
+            <p className="text-sm text-primary-foreground/85">{getLabel('footerLine2')}</p>
           </div>
 
           {/* Links column */}
@@ -131,7 +131,7 @@ export default async function Footer() {
         {/* Bottom bar */}
         <div className="border-t border-primary-foreground/20 pt-6 flex flex-col md:flex-row items-center justify-between gap-4">
           <p className="text-xs text-primary-foreground/85 text-center md:text-left max-w-2xl">
-            {getLabel('footerCopyright')}
+            {getLabel('footerBottomLine')}
           </p>
           <div className="flex items-center gap-3">
             <Link
diff --git a/lib/model-labels-server.ts b/lib/model-labels-server.ts
index 5a71ac12..e4e9a1fb 100644
--- a/lib/model-labels-server.ts
+++ b/lib/model-labels-server.ts
@@ -1,27 +1,44 @@
-import { readJsonConfig, writeJsonConfig } from './json-config-file';
+import { apiFetch, authFetch } from './api-fetch';
 import {
   getDefaultModelLabelsConfig,
   normalizeModelLabels,
   type ModelLabelsConfig,
 } from './model-labels';
 
-const CONFIG_FILE = 'model-labels.json';
+const SITE_LABELS_PATH = '/api/v1/site-labels/';
 
+/**
+ * Model labels are backend-owned (`SiteLabel` rows, superuser-editable via
+ * the backoffice). Any failure - network error, non-200, or an unexpected
+ * response shape - falls back to defaults so SSR never 500s over a backend
+ * hiccup (matches `getPublishedPages`'s fallback behavior).
+ */
 export async function readModelLabels(): Promise<ModelLabelsConfig> {
   const defaults = getDefaultModelLabelsConfig();
-  return readJsonConfig(
-    CONFIG_FILE,
-    (raw) => {
-      // If the file was hand-edited to `null`, an array, or a primitive,
-      // reading `parsed.labels` below would crash; bail to defaults.
-      if (!raw || typeof raw !== 'object' || Array.isArray(raw)) return defaults;
-      const parsed = raw as Partial<ModelLabelsConfig>;
-      return { labels: normalizeModelLabels(parsed.labels) };
-    },
-    defaults
-  );
+  try {
+    const res = await apiFetch(SITE_LABELS_PATH);
+    if (!res.ok) return defaults;
+    const raw = await res.json();
+    if (!raw || typeof raw !== 'object' || Array.isArray(raw)) return defaults;
+    const parsed = raw as Partial<ModelLabelsConfig>;
+    return { labels: normalizeModelLabels(parsed.labels) };
+  } catch {
+    return defaults;
+  }
 }
 
-export async function writeModelLabels(config: ModelLabelsConfig): Promise<void> {
-  await writeJsonConfig(CONFIG_FILE, { labels: normalizeModelLabels(config.labels) });
+/** Upserts the given keys via the backend's superuser-only PUT; throws on failure. */
+export async function writeModelLabels(config: ModelLabelsConfig, token: string): Promise<void> {
+  const res = await authFetch(SITE_LABELS_PATH, token, {
+    method: 'PUT',
+    headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
+    body: JSON.stringify({ labels: normalizeModelLabels(config.labels) }),
+  });
+  if (!res.ok) {
+    const details = await res.text().catch(() => '');
+    throw Object.assign(
+      new Error(`Failed to write site labels: ${res.status}${details ? ` - ${details}` : ''}`),
+      { status: res.status }
+    );
+  }
 }
diff --git a/lib/model-labels.ts b/lib/model-labels.ts
index 774279e1..14b0fcc1 100644
--- a/lib/model-labels.ts
+++ b/lib/model-labels.ts
@@ -22,8 +22,9 @@ export type ModelLabelKey =
   // General site branding, shown in the header and footer.
   | 'siteTitle'
   | 'siteTagline'
-  | 'footerFunded'
-  | 'footerCopyright';
+  | 'footerLine1'
+  | 'footerLine2'
+  | 'footerBottomLine';
 
 export type ModelLabelLocale = 'en' | 'fr';
 
@@ -59,13 +60,23 @@ export const DEFAULT_MODEL_LABELS: Record<ModelLabelKey, LocalizedLabel> = {
     en: 'Archetype tagline',
     fr: 'Archetype tagline',
   },
-  footerFunded: {
-    en: 'Archetype funding text.',
-    fr: "Texte de financement d'Archetype.",
+  footerLine1: {
+    en: 'Footer first section',
+    fr: 'Pied de page, première section',
   },
-  footerCopyright: {
-    en: 'Archetype copyright',
-    fr: "Droits d'auteur d'Archetype",
+  footerLine2: {
+    en: 'Footer second section',
+    fr: 'Pied de page, deuxième section',
+  },
+  footerBottomLine: {
+    en:
+      'Archetype is freely-available software for structured annotations of images which allows users to search for, ' +
+      'view, and organise detailed characteristics of handwriting or other material in both verbal and visual form. ' +
+      'Archetype is designed primarily for the palaeographical analysis of handwriting.',
+    fr:
+      'Archetype est un logiciel libre pour les annotations structurées d’images qui permet aux utilisateurs de rechercher' +
+      ' , de visualiser et d’organiser les caractéristiques détaillées de l’écriture ou d’autres matériaux sous forme verbale et visuelle. ' +
+      'Archetype est conçu principalement pour l’analyse paléographique de l’écriture.',
   },
 };