diff --git a/libs/pbd/filesystem.cc b/libs/pbd/filesystem.cc
index aefe6d525c..2412b76761 100644
--- a/libs/pbd/filesystem.cc
+++ b/libs/pbd/filesystem.cc
@@ -22,12 +22,16 @@
 #include <glib/gstdio.h>
 
 #include <cerrno>
+#include <fstream>
 
 #include <glibmm/fileutils.h>
 #include <glibmm/miscutils.h>
 
 #include <pbd/filesystem.h>
 #include <pbd/error.h>
+#include <pbd/compose.h>
+
+#include "i18n.h"
 
 namespace PBD {
 
@@ -108,6 +112,28 @@ remove(const path & p)
 	return true;
 }
 
+void
+copy_file(const path & from_path, const path & to_path)
+{
+	// this implementation could use mucho memory
+	// for big files.
+	std::ifstream in(from_path.to_string().c_str());
+	std::ofstream out(to_path.to_string().c_str());
+	
+	if (!in || !out) {
+		throw filesystem_error(string_compose(_("Could not open files %1 and %2 for copying"),
+					from_path.to_string(), to_path.to_string()));
+	}
+	
+	out << in.rdbuf();
+	
+	if (!in || !out) {
+		throw filesystem_error(string_compose(_("Could not copy existing file %1 to %2"),
+					from_path.to_string(), to_path.to_string()));
+		remove (to_path);
+	}
+}
+
 string
 basename (const path & p)
 {
diff --git a/libs/pbd/pbd/filesystem.h b/libs/pbd/pbd/filesystem.h
index 7eca8a7ed3..3ea009649d 100644
--- a/libs/pbd/pbd/filesystem.h
+++ b/libs/pbd/pbd/filesystem.h
@@ -106,6 +106,16 @@ bool create_directories(const path & p);
  */
 bool remove(const path & p);
 
+/**
+ * Attempt to copy the contents of the file from_path to a new file 
+ * at path to_path.
+ *
+ * @throw filesystem_error if from_path.empty() || to_path.empty() ||
+ * !exists(from_path) || !is_regular(from_path) || exists(to_path)
+ */
+void copy_file(const path & from_path, const path & to_path);
+
+
 string basename (const path& p);
 
 } // namespace sys