diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 0e987cc..387ead2 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -35,6 +35,11 @@ sudo podman generate systemd registry > /etc/systemd/system/registry.service
 sudo systemctl enable --now registry
 ```
 
+## Licensing
+`SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0`
 
-## License
- SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
\ No newline at end of file
+The build recipe and this documentation is licensed as Apache-2.0.
+The container itself contains various software components under various open source licenses listed in the associated
+Software Bill of Materials (SBOM).
+
+This image is based on [openSUSE Tumbleweed](https://get.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/).
diff --git a/distribution-image.changes b/distribution-image.changes
index 676222c..62a8f3b 100644
--- a/distribution-image.changes
+++ b/distribution-image.changes
@@ -1,3 +1,8 @@
+-------------------------------------------------------------------
+Thu Apr  4 17:37:20 UTC 2024 - Dirk Mueller <dmueller@suse.com>
+
+- add a shared licensing footer to the base container READMEs
+
 -------------------------------------------------------------------
 Fri Mar 22 17:20:58 UTC 2024 - Dirk Mueller <dmueller@suse.com>