diff --git a/LICENSE b/LICENSE
deleted file mode 100644
index 50c5287af..000000000
--- a/LICENSE
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,22 +0,0 @@
-The MIT License (MIT)
-
-Copyright (c) 2015 Government Digital Service
-
-Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
-of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
-in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
-to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
-copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
-furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
-
-The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all
-copies or substantial portions of the Software.
-
-THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
-IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
-FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
-AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
-LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
-OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
-SOFTWARE.
-
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 79a682726..ed1e149d5 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -98,3 +98,10 @@ If you're working in VS Code, you can also leverage Docker for a containerized d
 
 NOTE: when you change .env in the future, you'll need to rebuild the devcontainer for the change to take effect. Vscode _should_ detect the change and prompt you with a toast notification during a cached build. If not, you can find a manual rebuild in command pallette or just `docker rm` the notifications-api container.
 
+## License && public domain
+
+Work through [commit `e604385`](https://github.com/GSA/notifications-api/commit/e604385e0cf4c2ab8c6451b7120ceb196cce21b5) is licensed by the UK government until the MIT license. Work after that commit is in the worldwide public domain. See [LICENSE.md](./LICENSE.md) for more information.
+
+## Contributing
+
+As stated in [CONTRIBUTING.md](CONTRIBUTING.md), all contributions to this project will be released under the CC0 dedication. By submitting a pull request, you are agreeing to comply with this waiver of copyright interest.
\ No newline at end of file