diff --git a/COPYING b/COPYING
index f212cad1f410ce1e24c1a824b9f483e6d4458869..d097ec10df2ad56e11336f92e66e92a61e03c162 100644
--- a/COPYING
+++ b/COPYING
@@ -3,8 +3,17 @@ ALBERTA:  an Adaptive multi Level finite element toolbox using
           Techniques for scientific Applications.
 
    (c) by A. Schmidt and K.G. Siebert (1996-2004),
-          D. Koester (2002-2007), C.-J. Heine (2002-2008).
+          D. Koester (2002-2007), C.-J. Heine (1999-2009).
 
-Until further notice copying is only allowed with explicit
-authorization by one of the authors.
+    This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
+    it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+    the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
+    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 General Public License for more details.
+
+    Please acknowledge the use of this software in the references when
+    publishing results produced with this software package.