diff --git a/notes2web.py b/notes2web.py
index bad6077..4448065 100755
--- a/notes2web.py
+++ b/notes2web.py
@@ -140,6 +140,13 @@ def main(args):
 
     args.output_dir.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
 
+    notes_license = "This note has no copyright license.",
+    print(f"{notes_license=}")
+    license_path = args.notes.joinpath("LICENSE")
+    if license_path.exists():
+        with open(license_path) as fp:
+            notes_license = fp.read()
+
     markdown_files, plaintext_files, other_files = get_files(args.notes)
 
     all_entries=[]
@@ -190,7 +197,11 @@ def main(args):
         # update file if required
         if update_required(filename, output_filename) or args.force:
             filehistory = git_filehistory(args.notes, filename)
-            html = pypandoc.convert_file(filename, 'html', extra_args=[f'--template={args.template}', '-V', f'filehistory={filehistory}'])
+            html = pypandoc.convert_file(filename, 'html', extra_args=[
+                f'--template={args.template}',
+                '-V', f'filehistory={filehistory}',
+                '-V', f'licenseFull={notes_license}'
+            ])
             pathlib.Path(output_filename).parent.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
 
             with open(output_filename, 'w+') as fp:
@@ -211,6 +222,7 @@ def main(args):
         html = re.sub(r'\$title\$', title, TEXT_ARTICLE_TEMPLATE_HEAD)
         html = re.sub(r'\$h1title\$', title, html)
         html = re.sub(r'\$raw\$', os.path.basename(filename), html)
+        html = re.sub(r'\$licenseFull\$', notes_license, html)
         html = html.replace('$filehistory$', filehistory)
         with open(filename) as fp:
             html += fp.read().replace("<", "&lt;").replace(">", "&gt;")
diff --git a/readme.md b/readme.md
index 81e7f69..6d922e4 100644
--- a/readme.md
+++ b/readme.md
@@ -41,6 +41,10 @@ doing it for me:
 - notes2web indexes [ATX-style headings](https://pandoc.org/MANUAL.html#atx-style-headings) for
   searching
 - notes2web attempts to display file history through the `git log` command
+- notes2web looks for the plaintext file `LICENSE` in the root directory of your notes
+
+  This is optional but if you would like to add a license you can find one
+  [here](https://choosealicense.com).
 
 ## CLI Usage
 
diff --git a/templates/article.html b/templates/article.html
index b156162..dc945b3 100644
--- a/templates/article.html
+++ b/templates/article.html
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
 	]</p>
 	<p class="smallText">
 		written by $for(author)$$author$$sep$, $endfor$
+	</p>
 	<p class="smallText">
 		syntax highlighting based on <a href="https://pygments.org/">Pygments'</a> default
 		colors
@@ -30,6 +31,12 @@
 		</summary>
 		$filehistory$
 	</details>
+	<details>
+		<summary class="smallText">
+			License
+		</summary>
+		<pre>$licenseFull$</pre>
+	</details>
 	<div>
 	$body$
 </body>
diff --git a/templates/textarticlehead.html b/templates/textarticlehead.html
index 6049d1c..ee2c2ea 100644
--- a/templates/textarticlehead.html
+++ b/templates/textarticlehead.html
@@ -17,6 +17,12 @@
 		</summary>
 		$filehistory$
 	</details>
+	<details>
+		<summary class="smallText">
+			License
+		</summary>
+		<pre>$licenseFull$</pre>
+	</details>
 	</div>
 	<h1>$title$</h1>
 	<p> This file was not rendered by notes2web because it is a plaintext file, not a markdown