diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index f310d68bd..2e7a1cc09 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
 !*.sh
 !CMakeLists.txt
 !*.cmake
-!LICENSE.txt
+!COPYING.txt
 !CHANGELOG 
 !README.md
 !README_figs/**
diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/COPYING.txt
similarity index 100%
rename from LICENSE.txt
rename to COPYING.txt