The copper is a left tributary in the Hohenlohekreis in northeastern Baden-Württemberg of almost 26 km in length, which flows in Forchtenberg from left and southeast into the Kocher.
Since copper-bearing deposits occur in the valley area of the river, this was already suspected as a motive of its designation. South of Bauersbach Vitriolerz was mining mined in the 19th century. That the name of the copper goes back to such occurrences, however, is questionable.
The copper is formed on the southeast edge of Übrigshausen next to the Seeholzweg on the edge of a small wood and runs the first 1.5 kilometers southwest to then turn to the right and the remaining first third of their run in front of the step edge of the Waldenburg mountains in a northerly direction to Kupferzell to flow. Up to there, their valley is a fairly flat and wide hollow in the Lettenkeuper edition (Erfurt Formation) of the Hohenlohe plain with straightened riverbed, on the flat side hills often lined with wide arable land. In Kupferzell the brook bed reaches the Muschelkalk and the brook continues in a northwesterly direction, deepens steeply and runs through a narrow and natural Mäandertal. More and more forest covers the side slopes, from Neufels often even the bottom. In Forchtenberg, now running in the Lower Muschelkalk and about 140 m below the edge heights, it flows from the left into the Kocher.
The catchment area covers 72.6 km ², which are mostly on the Hohenlohe level. Apart from their first three kilometers in the Schwäbisch Hall district, the copper runs entirely in the Hohenlohe district.
In the course of land consolidation procedures in Westernach and the construction of the A6 motorway, the copper was straightened from the source to copper cell. The surrounding agricultural areas were drained and thus made usable up to the upper surface of the water.
By order of 5 February 1960, the regional council of Stuttgart has designated the Kupfertal with side valleys between the hamlet of Neufels the city of Neuenstein and Forchtenberg as a landscape protection area (protected area number 1.26.003). The protected area has an area of 384.0 hectares.