diff --git a/wagtail/wagtailadmin/views/pages.py b/wagtail/wagtailadmin/views/pages.py
index 218671bab..5d2b694bb 100644
--- a/wagtail/wagtailadmin/views/pages.py
+++ b/wagtail/wagtailadmin/views/pages.py
@@ -631,16 +631,10 @@ def copy(request, page_id):
             update_attrs={
                 'title': form.cleaned_data['new_title'],
                 'slug': form.cleaned_data['new_slug'],
-            }
+            },
+            keep_live=(can_publish and form.cleaned_data.get('publish_copies')),
         )
 
-        # Check if we should keep copied subpages published
-        publish_copies = can_publish and form.cleaned_data.get('publish_copies')
-
-        # Unpublish copied pages if we need to
-        if not publish_copies:
-            new_page.get_descendants(inclusive=True).unpublish()
-
         # Assign user of this request as the owner of all the new pages
         new_page.get_descendants(inclusive=True).update(owner=request.user)
 
diff --git a/wagtail/wagtailcore/models.py b/wagtail/wagtailcore/models.py
index 7e57cc1eb..bd71f66f3 100644
--- a/wagtail/wagtailcore/models.py
+++ b/wagtail/wagtailcore/models.py
@@ -703,7 +703,7 @@ class Page(six.with_metaclass(PageBase, MP_Node, ClusterableModel, index.Indexed
         # Log
         logger.info("Page moved: \"%s\" id=%d path=%s", self.title, self.id, new_url_path)
 
-    def copy(self, recursive=False, to=None, update_attrs=None, copy_revisions=True):
+    def copy(self, recursive=False, to=None, update_attrs=None, copy_revisions=True, keep_live=True):
         # Make a copy
         page_copy = Page.objects.get(id=self.id).specific
         page_copy.pk = None
@@ -712,6 +712,10 @@ class Page(six.with_metaclass(PageBase, MP_Node, ClusterableModel, index.Indexed
         page_copy.numchild = 0
         page_copy.path = None
 
+        if not keep_live:
+            page_copy.live = False
+            page_copy.has_unpublished_changes = True
+
         if update_attrs:
             for field, value in update_attrs.items():
                 setattr(page_copy, field, value)
@@ -748,7 +752,7 @@ class Page(six.with_metaclass(PageBase, MP_Node, ClusterableModel, index.Indexed
         # Copy child pages
         if recursive:
             for child_page in self.get_children():
-                child_page.specific.copy(recursive=True, to=page_copy, copy_revisions=copy_revisions)
+                child_page.specific.copy(recursive=True, to=page_copy, copy_revisions=copy_revisions, keep_live=keep_live)
 
         return page_copy