diff --git a/COPYRIGHT b/COPYRIGHT
new file mode 120000
index 0000000000..9060ce8208
--- /dev/null
+++ b/COPYRIGHT
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+debian/copyright
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/git-annex.cabal.template.sh b/git-annex.cabal.template.sh
index 46eaad7458..5ff8155e90 100755
--- a/git-annex.cabal.template.sh
+++ b/git-annex.cabal.template.sh
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ Description:
  revision control.
 Extra-Source-Files:
   git-annex.1 git-annex-shell.1
-  INSTALL README CHANGELOG NEWS GPL
+  INSTALL README CHANGELOG NEWS GPL COPYRIGHT
 
 Flag S3
   Description: Enable S3 support