diff --git a/ncurses/base/README b/ncurses/base/README
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4677e42
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ncurses/base/README
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+-- Copyright (c) 1998,2006 Free Software Foundation, Inc.                    --
+--                                                                           --
+-- 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, distribute with modifications, 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 ABOVE 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.                                    --
+--                                                                           --
+-- Except as contained in this notice, the name(s) of the above copyright    --
+-- holders shall not be used in advertising or otherwise to promote the      --
+-- sale, use or other dealings in this Software without prior written        --
+-- authorization.                                                            --
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+-- $Id: README,v 1.2 2006/04/22 22:19:37 tom Exp $
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+The functions in this directory are the generic (not device-specific) modules
+of ncurses.
+
+As a rule, these modules should not depend directly on term.h references and
+associated terminfo function and variables.