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diff --git a/contribute/HowToApplyALicense.md b/contribute/HowToApplyALicense.md
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+# How to apply a license
+
+Originally Nextcloud was licensed under the GNU AGPLv3 only. From
+June, 16 2016 on we switched to "GNU AGPLv3 or any later version" for
+better long-term maintainability and to make it more secure from a
+legal point of view.
+
+Additionally Nextcloud doesn't require a CLA (Contributor License
+Agreement). The copyright belongs to all the individual
+contributors.
+
+If you modify an existing file, please keep the existing license header as
+it is and just add your copyright notice:
+
+````
+@copyright Copyright (c) <year>, <your name> (<your email address>)
+````
+
+If you create a new file please use this license header:
+
+````
+/**
+ * @copyright Copyright (c) <year>, <your name> (<your email address>)
+ *
+ * @license GNU AGPL version 3 or any later version
+ *
+ * This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ * it under the terms of the GNU Affero General Public License as
+ * published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the
+ * License, or (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ * GNU Affero General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU Affero General Public License
+ * along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ *
+ */
+````
+
+Additionally we require a Developer Certificate of Origin (DCO), look
+at [CONTRIBUTING.md][contributing] to learn more how to sign your commits.
+
+[contributing]: https://github.com/nextcloud/server/blob/master/CONTRIBUTING.md#sign-your-work
diff --git a/contribute/developer-certificate-of-origin b/contribute/developer-certificate-of-origin
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+Developer Certificate of Origin
+Version 1.1
+
+Copyright (C) 2004, 2006 The Linux Foundation and its contributors.
+660 York Street, Suite 102,
+San Francisco, CA 94110 USA
+
+Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies of this
+license document, but changing it is not allowed.
+
+Developer's Certificate of Origin 1.1
+
+By making a contribution to this project, I certify that:
+
+(a) The contribution was created in whole or in part by me and I
+    have the right to submit it under the open source license
+    indicated in the file; or
+
+(b) The contribution is based upon previous work that, to the best
+    of my knowledge, is covered under an appropriate open source
+    license and I have the right under that license to submit that
+    work with modifications, whether created in whole or in part
+    by me, under the same open source license (unless I am
+    permitted to submit under a different license), as indicated
+    in the file; or
+
+(c) The contribution was provided directly to me by some other
+    person who certified (a), (b) or (c) and I have not modified
+    it.
+
+(d) I understand and agree that this project and the contribution
+    are public and that a record of the contribution (including all
+    personal information I submit with it, including my sign-off) is
+    maintained indefinitely and may be redistributed consistent with
+    this project or the open source license(s) involved.