diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index bfbfbb6..d2295e5 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -250,7 +250,7 @@ options.
 - UltraTears decrypts nothing and reads no keys: it takes the ExeFS and RomFS the player has already extracted.
 - No Nintendo SDK code or headers are used; the system and graphics layers are the port's own implementations.
 - Only the facts needed to run are in the source: addresses, hashes, short instruction replacements.
-- The icon (`assets/icon.ico`) is the author's own drawing, not Nintendo artwork.
+- The icon, emblem and cover are the author's own drawings, not Nintendo artwork.
 - UltraTears is not affiliated with or endorsed by Nintendo; you need your own purchased copy of the game.
 
 ## License
@@ -258,3 +258,7 @@ options.
 UltraTears is free software under the **GNU General Public License v3.0 or later** ([LICENSE](LICENSE)). Third-party
 code keeps its own license: [third_party/README.md](third_party/README.md); the builder package adds
 `THIRD-PARTY-NOTICES.md` and `licenses\` for the tools it carries.
+
+The **branding is not under the GPL**: the name UltraTears, the emblem and icon, the cover and the launcher's background
+pattern may be shared unchanged as part of UltraTears and used to refer to it, but not for other projects or modified
+versions. A fork keeps the code under the GPL with its own name and images. Details: [assets/BRANDING.md](assets/BRANDING.md).
diff --git a/README.ru.md b/README.ru.md
index 4bca624..ecd3989 100644
--- a/README.ru.md
+++ b/README.ru.md
@@ -245,7 +245,7 @@ A — правая кнопка.
 - UltraTears ничего не расшифровывает и не читает ключи: он берёт уже извлечённые игроком ExeFS и RomFS.
 - Код и заголовки Nintendo SDK не используются; системный и графический слои — собственные реализации порта.
 - В исходниках только факты, нужные для работы: адреса, хеши, короткие замены инструкций.
-- Иконка (`assets/icon.ico`) — собственный рисунок автора, не арт Nintendo.
+- Иконка, эмблема и обложка — собственные рисунки автора, не арт Nintendo.
 - UltraTears не связан с Nintendo и не одобрен ею; нужна своя купленная копия игры.
 
 ## Лицензия
@@ -253,3 +253,8 @@ A — правая кнопка.
 UltraTears — свободная программа под **GNU General Public License v3.0 или новее** ([LICENSE](LICENSE)). Сторонний
 код сохраняет свои лицензии: [third_party/README.md](third_party/README.md); в пакете сборщика — `THIRD-PARTY-NOTICES.md`
 и `licenses\` для инструментов, которые он содержит.
+
+**Оформление под GPL не подпадает**: название UltraTears, эмблему и иконку, обложку и фоновый узор лаунчера можно
+распространять без изменений в составе UltraTears и использовать, чтобы рассказать о нём, но не для других проектов и
+изменённых версий. Форк сохраняет код под GPL, но со своим названием и картинками. Подробно (на английском):
+[assets/BRANDING.md](assets/BRANDING.md).
diff --git a/assets/BRANDING.md b/assets/BRANDING.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fb293ca
--- /dev/null
+++ b/assets/BRANDING.md
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+# UltraTears branding
+
+The code of UltraTears is free software under the GNU General Public License v3.0 or later (`LICENSE`). **The
+branding below is not**: it identifies this project, and the GPL does not cover it.
+
+Branding:
+
+- the name **UltraTears** and the short name **ultrs** as the name of a program, port or launcher;
+- the emblem and the icon: `assets/icon.ico`, `assets/launcher/l_emblem.png`;
+- the cover: `assets/cover.png`;
+- the launcher's background pattern: `assets/launcher/l_pattern.png`.
+
+Copyright © 2026 kuraeow (the UltraTears author). All rights reserved, except for the permissions below.
+
+## You may
+
+- copy and distribute the branding **unchanged**, as part of UltraTears itself: its source, its builder packages, a
+  build made from them, including an unchanged mirror or repackaging of a release;
+- use the name and show the emblem or the cover to refer to UltraTears: in news, reviews, guides, videos, wikis, bug
+  reports and links to this project.
+
+## You may not, without written permission
+
+- use the branding for another project, or for a modified version of UltraTears that you distribute (a fork): give it
+  another name and replace the emblem, the icon, the cover and the pattern with your own;
+- modify the branding, or use it in a way that suggests your project is UltraTears or is endorsed by its author;
+- use it in other names, logos or domains in a confusingly similar way.
+
+A fork may of course keep the code under the GPL; it only has to look and be named like itself. For a modified
+version, replace `assets/icon.ico` (the game's build compiles it into `UltraTears.exe`) and the launcher's images in
+`assets/launcher/`.
+
+Not branding, and under their own licenses: the fonts in `assets/launcher/fonts/` (SIL Open Font License 1.1, their
+texts next to them) and the small interface icons `assets/launcher/l_ic_*.svg` (GPL-3.0-or-later, as the code).