diff --git a/crates/launcher-common/src/template.rs b/crates/launcher-common/src/template.rs
index 1ae1dcb..d9ca545 100644
--- a/crates/launcher-common/src/template.rs
+++ b/crates/launcher-common/src/template.rs
@@ -717,6 +717,51 @@ mod tests {
         );
     }
 
+    /// The emitted licence is the app's `[project].license`, once per header.
+    ///
+    /// The template used to carry a literal MPL-2.0 header — twice — and never
+    /// read `app_license`, so realigning an AGPL repo's launcher silently
+    /// relicensed it (game-server-admin, 2026-09-30). A non-default licence is
+    /// the only input that tells "reads the config" from "happens to match".
+    #[test]
+    fn rendered_licence_is_the_projects_and_appears_once_per_header() {
+        let mut cfg = sample_config();
+        cfg.project.license = Some("AGPL-3.0-or-later".into());
+        let std_ = LauncherStandard::baked().expect("baked standard should parse");
+        let out = render(&cfg, &std_, None).expect("template should render");
+
+        let spdx: Vec<&str> = out
+            .lines()
+            .filter(|l| l.contains("SPDX-License-Identifier"))
+            .collect();
+        assert_eq!(
+            spdx,
+            [
+                "# SPDX-License-Identifier: AGPL-3.0-or-later",
+                "# ;; SPDX-License-Identifier: AGPL-3.0-or-later",
+            ],
+            "exactly one script header and one deed header, both the project's licence"
+        );
+        assert_eq!(
+            out.lines().nth(1),
+            Some("# SPDX-License-Identifier: AGPL-3.0-or-later"),
+            "the licence header must sit directly under the shebang"
+        );
+    }
+
+    /// With no `[project].license` the launcher keeps its historical MPL-2.0.
+    #[test]
+    fn rendered_licence_defaults_to_mpl_when_the_project_sets_none() {
+        let cfg = sample_config();
+        assert_eq!(cfg.project.license, None);
+        let std_ = LauncherStandard::baked().expect("baked standard should parse");
+        let out = render(&cfg, &std_, None).expect("template should render");
+        assert_eq!(
+            out.lines().nth(1),
+            Some("# SPDX-License-Identifier: MPL-2.0")
+        );
+    }
+
     /// The port has exactly one spelling in the generated script (#49 AC3).
     ///
     /// `APP_PORT` used to be emitted into every `server-url` launcher and read
diff --git a/crates/launcher-common/tests/fixtures/metadata_block/minted-2026-09-23_stapeln-launcher-deed.sh b/crates/launcher-common/tests/fixtures/metadata_block/minted-2026-09-23_stapeln-launcher-deed.sh
index 017d215..9c66e5d 100644
--- a/crates/launcher-common/tests/fixtures/metadata_block/minted-2026-09-23_stapeln-launcher-deed.sh
+++ b/crates/launcher-common/tests/fixtures/metadata_block/minted-2026-09-23_stapeln-launcher-deed.sh
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env bash
 # SPDX-License-Identifier: MPL-2.0
-# SPDX-License-Identifier: MPL-2.0
 # Copyright (c) 2026 Jonathan D.A. Jewell (hyperpolymath) <j.d.a.jewell@open.ac.uk>
 #
 # @launcher-deed begin
diff --git a/templates/launcher.sh.tera b/templates/launcher.sh.tera
index 3a0489c..632fe1a 100644
--- a/templates/launcher.sh.tera
+++ b/templates/launcher.sh.tera
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env bash
-# SPDX-License-Identifier: MPL-2.0
 {# NOTE: the shebang MUST be the literal first line of this template.
   It previously sat below this comment block, and every launcher the
   generator emitted began with a blank line -- shellcheck SC2148, and a
@@ -23,12 +22,18 @@
 
   All three shapes emit the same --integ / --disinteg / --help cross-platform
   surface so desktop integration stays uniform across the estate.
+
+  The emitted script's licence is the APP's (`[project].license`, default
+  MPL-2.0), not this template's. It used to be a literal MPL-2.0 -- emitted
+  twice -- so realigning a launcher in an AGPL repo silently relicensed it
+  (game-server-admin, 2026-09-30). The tag name is a Tera string so that a
+  licence scanner reading THIS file sees only the template's own header above.
 -#}
-# SPDX-License-Identifier: MPL-2.0
+# {{ "SPDX-License-Identifier" }}: {{ app_license }}
 # Copyright (c) 2026 Jonathan D.A. Jewell (hyperpolymath) <j.d.a.jewell@open.ac.uk>
 #
 # @launcher-deed begin
-# ;; SPDX-License-Identifier: MPL-2.0
+# ;; {{ "SPDX-License-Identifier" }}: {{ app_license }}
 # (praxis-deed
 #   :schema-version  "1.0.0"
 #   :canonical-name  "{{ app_name | deedstr }}-launcher"