diff --git a/LICENSE b/LICENSE
index d8ec8cc..56e3427 100644
--- a/LICENSE
+++ b/LICENSE
@@ -1,13 +1,21 @@
-Pay It Forward License (PIF)
+MIT License
 
 Copyright (c) 2026-present spacedevin
 
-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:
+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 above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all
+copies or substantial portions of the Software.
 
-This license includes a perpetual, worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, irrevocable (except as stated below) grant for patent claims necessarily infringed by the use of the Software or any contributions submitted to it; terminating automatically when an entity initiates patent litigation (including a cross-claim or counterclaim) alleging that the Software or any portion thereof infringes a patent.
-
-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 non-infringement. 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.
-
-Recipients of the Software should pay it forward by contributing to the open-source community through actions including but not limited to providing code, documentation, tutorials, guides, support, feedback, or promoting open-source projects through advocacy or related efforts that advance innovation and community growth.
+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.
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 3d5f092..c243150 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -146,4 +146,4 @@ Branch % is lower (~60%) because the Tish→JS emit adds many `?? null` / typeof
 
 ## License
 
-Pay It Forward (PIF) — see [LICENSE](LICENSE). Same license as [tish](https://github.com/tishlang/tish).
+MIT — see [LICENSE](LICENSE).
diff --git a/package-lock.json b/package-lock.json
index f222e40..30e4716 100644
--- a/package-lock.json
+++ b/package-lock.json
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
     "": {
       "name": "@spacedevin/deck",
       "version": "0.1.0",
-      "license": "PIF",
+      "license": "MIT",
       "workspaces": [
         "packages/*"
       ],
@@ -6431,7 +6431,7 @@
     "packages/player": {
       "name": "@spacedevin/deck-player",
       "version": "0.1.0",
-      "license": "PIF",
+      "license": "MIT",
       "dependencies": {
         "@spacedevin/deck": "file:../.."
       },
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 459d324..f7c901e 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
   "version": "0.1.0",
   "type": "module",
   "description": ".deck language only — tokenize, parse, format, registries, highlight classify",
-  "license": "PIF",
+  "license": "MIT",
   "author": "spacedevin",
   "repository": {
     "type": "git",
diff --git a/packages/player/LICENSE b/packages/player/LICENSE
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..56e3427
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/player/LICENSE
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+MIT License
+
+Copyright (c) 2026-present spacedevin
+
+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.
diff --git a/packages/player/README.md b/packages/player/README.md
index b87ade0..e9c5c35 100644
--- a/packages/player/README.md
+++ b/packages/player/README.md
@@ -141,4 +141,4 @@ See [AGENTS.md](AGENTS.md). Grammar changes belong upstream in `@spacedevin/deck
 
 ## License
 
-Pay It Forward (PIF) — see [LICENSE](../../LICENSE).
+MIT — see [LICENSE](LICENSE).
diff --git a/packages/player/package.json b/packages/player/package.json
index 9fe2ced..7f627da 100644
--- a/packages/player/package.json
+++ b/packages/player/package.json
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
   "version": "0.1.0",
   "type": "module",
   "description": "Web Audio player for the .deck language — chip-tune synths, transport, and a <deck-player> element",
-  "license": "PIF",
+  "license": "MIT",
   "author": "spacedevin",
   "repository": {
     "type": "git",
@@ -40,7 +40,8 @@
     "element/",
     "types/",
     "README.md",
-    "AGENTS.md"
+    "AGENTS.md",
+    "LICENSE"
   ],
   "scripts": {
     "build": "tish build src/index.tish -o dist/deck-player.js --target js",
diff --git a/scripts/build-rust.mjs b/scripts/build-rust.mjs
index dda8b54..449cf54 100644
--- a/scripts/build-rust.mjs
+++ b/scripts/build-rust.mjs
@@ -117,7 +117,7 @@ Hosts extend the language through registries rather than forking it:
 
 ## License
 
-Pay It Forward (PIF) — see LICENSE. Same license as [tish][tish].
+MIT — see LICENSE.
 
 [npm]: https://www.npmjs.com/package/@spacedevin/deck
 [repo]: https://github.com/spacedevin/deck
@@ -209,13 +209,13 @@ const CRATE_VERSION = process.env.DECKFILE_VERSION ?? pkg.version
 const manifestPath = path.join(out, "Cargo.toml")
 let manifest = fs.readFileSync(manifestPath, "utf8")
 const deps = `[dependencies]\ntishlang_runtime = "${RUNTIME_VERSION}"\n`
-// `license-file`, not `license`: PIF is not an SPDX identifier, so an SPDX field would either be
-// rejected or misreport the terms. Same approach tish itself uses.
+// MIT is a real SPDX identifier, so the crate declares it as `license` rather than pointing at a
+// `license-file`. That is what crates.io indexes and what downstream license tooling reads.
 manifest = `[package]
 name = "${CRATE_NAME}"
 version = "${CRATE_VERSION}"
 edition = "2021"
-license-file = "LICENSE"
+license = "MIT"
 readme = "README.md"
 description = "${pkg.description}"
 repository = "${pkg.repository.url}"