holy damn, this is all much much much easier to change than everyone is making it out.
all you have to do is log into your FTP, goto your wordpress install directory, goto your theme directory.
[install directory] > wp-content > themes > [your current theme]
there should be a file in there called footer.php.
copy this file to your desktop and open it,
replace any text with the code below:
<!-- start footer -->
<div class="footer">
enter any footer text here. feel free to use html in here as well.
<!-- end footer -->
now delete the original footer.php file from your FTP and put this one in its place.
simple as that. worked like a charm for me.
