diff --git a/COPYING.new b/COPYING.new
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..da4cb28febe6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/COPYING.new
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+The Linux Kernel is provided under:
+
+	SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0 WITH Linux-syscall-note
+
+Being under the terms of the GNU General Public License version 2 only,
+according with:
+
+	LICENSES/preferred/GPL-2.0
+
+With an explicit syscall exception, as stated at:
+
+	LICENSES/exceptions/Linux-syscall-note
+
+In addition, other licenses may also apply. Please see:
+
+	Documentation/process/license-rules.rst
+
+for more details.
diff --git a/Documentation/process/license-rules.rst b/Documentation/process/license-rules.rst
index 408f77dc6157..8ea26325fe3f 100644
--- a/Documentation/process/license-rules.rst
+++ b/Documentation/process/license-rules.rst
@@ -4,15 +4,17 @@ Linux kernel licensing rules
 ============================
 
 The Linux Kernel is provided under the terms of the GNU General Public
-License version 2 only (GPL-2.0), as published by the Free Software
-Foundation, and provided in the COPYING file.  This documentation file is
-not meant to replace the COPYING file, but provides a description of how
-each source file should be annotated to make the licensing it is governed
-under clear and unambiguous.
+License version 2 only (GPL-2.0), as provided in LICENSES/preferred/GPL-2.0,
+with an explicit syscall exception described in
+LICENSES/exceptions/Linux-syscall-note, as described in the COPYING file.
 
-The license in the COPYING file applies to the kernel source as a whole,
-though individual source files can have a different license which is
-required to be compatible with the GPL-2.0::
+This documentation file provides a description of how each source file
+should be annotated to make its license clear and unambiguous.
+It doesn't replace the Kernel's license.
+
+The license described in the COPYING file applies to the kernel source
+as a whole, though individual source files can have a different license
+which is required to be compatible with the GPL-2.0::
 
     GPL-1.0+  :  GNU General Public License v1.0 or later
     GPL-2.0+  :  GNU General Public License v2.0 or later