diff --git a/.github/hibernate-github-bot.yml b/.github/hibernate-github-bot.yml
index 71ad0e6a9a..a4aff8cdb1 100644
--- a/.github/hibernate-github-bot.yml
+++ b/.github/hibernate-github-bot.yml
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ jira:
     - "*.Jenkinsfile"
     - "*.sh"
     # In-repo documentation
-    - "copyright.txt"
+    - "AUTHORS.txt"
     - "README.md"
     - "MAINTAINERS.md"
     - "CONTRIBUTING.md"
diff --git a/copyright.txt b/AUTHORS.txt
similarity index 81%
rename from copyright.txt
rename to AUTHORS.txt
index 9016a56980..8fa4333dd2 100644
--- a/copyright.txt
+++ b/AUTHORS.txt
@@ -1,3 +1,13 @@
+# This file lists copyright owners of the project.
+# The list is not exhaustive: other copyright owners exist.
+# See CONTRIBUTING.md for instructions regarding how to be added to this list.
+
+# Corporate contributors
+
+Red Hat, Inc.
+
+# Individual contributors
+
 Adam Stawicki
 Ahmed Al Hafoudh
 Alaa Nassef
diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
index dd5cb02a17..b3e4f7d222 100644
--- a/CONTRIBUTING.md
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -17,6 +17,12 @@ in the root directory of the repository.
 All contributions are subject to the [Developer Certificate of Origin (DCO)](https://developercertificate.org/).
 The DCO text is also included verbatim in the [dco.txt](dco.txt) file in the root directory of the repository.
 
+Copyright owners are listed in [AUTHORS.txt](AUTHORS.txt).
+Contributors with a valid copyright claim can request to be added to that list
+by sending a pull request to the project's GitHub repository,
+listing at least one relevant contribution in the pull request description.
+Note: one-liner or repetitive patches may not be sufficient to claim copyright.
+
 ## Finding something to contribute
 
 Our [JIRA instance](https://hibernate.atlassian.net/browse/HV) is where all tasks are reported and tracked.
diff --git a/distribution/src/main/assembly/dist.xml b/distribution/src/main/assembly/dist.xml
index ec2303be04..760de6c95f 100644
--- a/distribution/src/main/assembly/dist.xml
+++ b/distribution/src/main/assembly/dist.xml
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@
 			<outputDirectory>/</outputDirectory>
 		</file>
 		<file>
-			<source>../copyright.txt</source>
+			<source>../AUTHORS.txt</source>
 			<outputDirectory>/</outputDirectory>
 		</file>
 		<file>
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@
 				<exclude>README.md</exclude>
 				<exclude>CONTRIBUTING.md</exclude>
 				<exclude>changelog.txt</exclude>
-				<exclude>copyright.txt</exclude>
+				<exclude>AUTHORS.txt</exclude>
 				<exclude>license.txt</exclude>
 
 				<!-- only needed for documentation and helper scripts, no need to include them -->
diff --git a/src/main/scripts/gencopyright.sh b/src/main/scripts/gencopyright.sh
index 7df06e6f41..1757ad7a24 100755
--- a/src/main/scripts/gencopyright.sh
+++ b/src/main/scripts/gencopyright.sh
@@ -2,11 +2,11 @@
 
 # gencopyright.sh
 #
-# Generates the copyright.txt file mentioned in the license header
+# Generates the AUTHORS.txt file mentioned in the license header
 
 SCRIPT_PATH=$(dirname $0)
 ROOT_PATH="$SCRIPT_PATH/../../../"
-COPYRIGHT_FILE_NAME="copyright.txt"
+COPYRIGHT_FILE_NAME="AUTHORS.txt"
 
 JAVADOC_AUTHORS=$(grep '@author [^<]*' -ho -r --include="*.java" $ROOT_PATH | sed 's/@author//;s/^[[:space:]]*//;s/[[:space:]]*$//;s/"\r"//')
 GIT_AUTHORS=$(git log --pretty=format:"%an")