diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index b72ca3c..fcbba36 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -7,6 +7,14 @@ and this project follows [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.ht
 
 ## [Unreleased]
 
+## [0.1.2] - 2026-08-20
+
+### Added
+
+- **MIT `LICENSE` at the repository root.** Copyright 2025-2026 3 Leaps, LLC.
+  README has a `## License` pointer. `NOTICE.md` restates the copyright and
+  points at `LICENSE`.
+
 ## [0.1.1] - 2026-08-20
 
 ### Added
@@ -81,6 +89,7 @@ and this project follows [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.ht
 - The generator rejects Git worktrees and Git directories, stages output before
   publication, and restricts replacement to synthcorpus-owned directories.
 
-[Unreleased]: https://github.com/3leaps/synthcorpus/compare/v0.1.1...HEAD
+[Unreleased]: https://github.com/3leaps/synthcorpus/compare/v0.1.2...HEAD
+[0.1.2]: https://github.com/3leaps/synthcorpus/releases/tag/v0.1.2
 [0.1.1]: https://github.com/3leaps/synthcorpus/releases/tag/v0.1.1
 [0.1.0]: https://github.com/3leaps/synthcorpus/releases/tag/v0.1.0
diff --git a/LICENSE b/LICENSE
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..02aebc9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/LICENSE
@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+MIT License
+
+Copyright (c) 2025-2026 3 Leaps, LLC
+
+Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
+of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
+in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
+to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
+copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
+furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
+
+The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all
+copies or substantial portions of the Software.
+
+THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
+IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
+FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
+AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
+LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
+OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
+SOFTWARE.
+
+---
+
+Copyright 2025-2026 3 Leaps, LLC
+
+Licensed under the MIT License (the "License");
+you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+   https://opensource.org/licenses/MIT
+
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+limitations under the License.
+
+---
+
+## Trademark Notice
+
+"3 Leaps®" is a registered trademark of 3 Leaps, LLC, a Florida LLC with offices in South Carolina. "Fulmen™", "Fulmens™", "FulmenHQ™", "MDMeld™", "Docemist™", the "Fulmen logo™", the "MDMeld icon™", and the "Docemist logo™" are trademarks of 3 Leaps, LLC, claimed through use in commerce, with plans for USPTO registration.
+
+While code and documentation are open under the MIT License above, use of these trademarks and associated logos, icons, and visual elements is reserved for official implementations to prevent confusion and protect the ecosystem. Use of these marks in derivative works does not imply endorsement by 3 Leaps, LLC. As a courtesy, rename derivative projects to avoid using "3leaps", "fulmen", "fulmens", "fulmenhq", "mdmeld", or "docemist" in repository or package names. Setup scripts provided in Fulmen repositories will assist in this process.
+
+For questions regarding trademark usage, contact legal@3leaps.net.
+
+---
+
+For additional governance details and contributor obligations, see the 3 Leaps Open Source Policies at https://github.com/3leaps/oss-policies.
diff --git a/NOTICE.md b/NOTICE.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f2fb26b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/NOTICE.md
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+synthcorpus is copyright 2025-2026 3 Leaps, LLC and is licensed under the MIT License in `LICENSE`.
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 2bd64a6..512225a 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ One-line: Synthetic, scanner-safe security-fixture corpus + throwaway-key genera
 | `cmd/synthcorpus-lexgen` | Lexical-mutation corpus generator (same never-inside-git rule) |
 | `docs/lexical-matrix.md` | Lexical-mutation matrix v1 — grammar, cells, floors, output planes |
 | `manifests/decernor-pin.json` | Consumer pin for drift-check locate-by-binary (tagged decernor `v0.1.4`) |
-| `docs/releases/` | Per-cut notes; current pack is [`v0.1.1`](docs/releases/v0.1.1.md) |
+| `docs/releases/` | Per-cut notes; current pack is [`v0.1.2`](docs/releases/v0.1.2.md) |
 | `manifests/decernor-fingerprint-golden.json` | Deterministic committed-synthetic fingerprint contract |
 | `manifests/decernor-generated-real-properties.json` | Property-only generated-real contract (no exact random values) |
 | `AGENTS.md` | Agent guide — **safety header first** |
@@ -31,3 +31,7 @@ make check-all
 DECERNOR_BIN=/absolute/path/to/decernor make contract
 ./bin/synthcorpus-gen --out ~/dev/dogfooding/decernor decernor   # outside this repo
 ```
+
+## License
+
+This project is licensed under the MIT License. See [`LICENSE`](LICENSE).
diff --git a/RELEASE_CHECKLIST.md b/RELEASE_CHECKLIST.md
index 7657542..a510196 100644
--- a/RELEASE_CHECKLIST.md
+++ b/RELEASE_CHECKLIST.md
@@ -217,6 +217,6 @@ ceremony.
 
 - [ ] Confirm the tag and GitHub release resolve to the intended `main` commit.
 - [ ] Confirm the three required checks remain green on that commit.
-- [ ] Verify `[Unreleased]` in `CHANGELOG.md` starts from `v0.1.1`.
+- [ ] Verify `[Unreleased]` in `CHANGELOG.md` starts from `v0.1.2`.
 - [ ] Keep only the three most recent entries in `RELEASE_NOTES.md`; retain the
       complete per-release narrative under `docs/releases/`.
diff --git a/RELEASE_NOTES.md b/RELEASE_NOTES.md
index d84df86..27eaee2 100644
--- a/RELEASE_NOTES.md
+++ b/RELEASE_NOTES.md
@@ -4,6 +4,33 @@ This file contains release notes for up to the three most recent releases in rev
 
 ---
 
+## v0.1.2 (2026-08-20)
+
+**MIT license**
+
+synthcorpus v0.1.2 adds a root MIT `LICENSE` (copyright 2025-2026 3 Leaps, LLC)
+and a README license pointer. Generated-real material still never enters Git.
+Releases remain signed tags plus notes.
+
+### Highlights
+
+- Root `LICENSE` is MIT. `NOTICE.md` restates the copyright and points at that
+  file. README `## License` links it.
+- Repository and generator report version `0.1.2`. No-publish posture is
+  unchanged: no prebuilt generator binary or attached corpus bundle.
+
+### Governing invariant
+
+Generated-real material never enters the repository. Only registered,
+provably unusable committed-synthetic specimens live under `fixtures/`.
+
+### Compatibility
+
+No migration is required. The Decernor consumer pin remains tagged `v0.1.4`.
+
+See [docs/releases/v0.1.2.md](docs/releases/v0.1.2.md) for the complete release
+narrative.
+
 ## v0.1.1 (2026-08-20)
 
 **Lexical lane and tagged Decernor pin**
diff --git a/VERSION b/VERSION
index 17e51c3..d917d3e 100644
--- a/VERSION
+++ b/VERSION
@@ -1 +1 @@
-0.1.1
+0.1.2
diff --git a/docs/releases/v0.1.2.md b/docs/releases/v0.1.2.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c9a430f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/releases/v0.1.2.md
@@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
+# synthcorpus v0.1.2 Release Notes
+
+**Release date:** 2026-08-20
+
+## Summary
+
+**MIT license**
+
+synthcorpus v0.1.2 adds a root MIT `LICENSE` (copyright 2025-2026 3 Leaps, LLC)
+and a README license pointer. The committed-synthetic corpus, Decernor pin, and
+generated-real boundary are unchanged.
+
+## Highlights
+
+- **MIT `LICENSE` at the repository root.** Copyright 2025-2026 3 Leaps, LLC.
+  The file carries the MIT text, a short MIT restatement, a trademark notice,
+  and a pointer to the 3 Leaps open-source policies.
+- README `## License` links [`LICENSE`](../../LICENSE).
+- `NOTICE.md` restates the copyright and points at `LICENSE`.
+- Repository and generator report version `0.1.2`.
+
+## Governing invariant
+
+Generated-real material never enters the repository. Only registered,
+provably unusable committed-synthetic specimens live under `fixtures/`.
+
+## Decernor contract
+
+The consumer pin remains tagged Decernor `v0.1.4` (`32d0176`). Locate stays
+`DECERNOR_BIN` or `PATH`. Exact goldens are unchanged.
+
+## Verification
+
+- `make test` runs the portable pure-Go suite.
+- `DECERNOR_BIN=/absolute/path/to/decernor make contract` runs the exact
+  committed-synthetic and property-only generated-real consumer lanes.
+- `make check-all` combines formatting, tests, build, scanner, proof, contract,
+  and diff-clean gates.
+
+## Compatibility
+
+No migration is required. The generator remains a repository-local dogfooding
+tool and is not distributed.
+
+## Release vehicle
+
+v0.1.2 is a GPG-signed Git tag plus GitHub release notes. Version tag refs are
+protected against unauthorized creation or mutation by the repository ruleset.
+GitHub's automatic source archives are expected; they contain the committed
+repository, including the committed-synthetic corpus, and no generated-real
+material. No prebuilt generator binary, package-manager artifact, separately
+attached corpus bundle, artifact signature or key, checksum manifest, or
+provenance asset is published. This posture is governed by
+[`docs/decisions/ADR-0002-no-publish-no-worktree-generator.md`](../decisions/ADR-0002-no-publish-no-worktree-generator.md).