diff --git a/AUTHORS b/AUTHORS
deleted file mode 100644
index 95b7ddf3b7c..00000000000
--- a/AUTHORS
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,293 +0,0 @@
-Piotr Mitros <pmitros@edx.org>
-Kyle Fiedler <kyle@kylefiedler.com>
-Ernie Park <eipark@mit.edu>
-Bridger Maxwell <bridger@mit.edu>
-Lyla Fischer <lyla@edx.org>
-David Ormsbee <dave@edx.org>
-Chris Terman <cjt@mit.edu>
-Reda Lemeden <reda@thoughtbot.com>
-Anant Agarwal <agarwal@edx.org>
-Jean-Michel Claus <jmc@edx.org>
-Calen Pennington <calen.pennington@gmail.com>
-JM Van Thong <jm@edx.org>
-Prem Sichanugrist <psichanugrist@thoughtbot.com>
-Isaac Chuang <ichuang@mit.edu>
-Galen Frechette <galen@thoughtbot.com>
-Edward Loveall <edward@edwardloveall.com>
-Matt Jankowski <mjankowski@thoughtbot.com>
-John Jarvis <jarv@edx.org>
-Victor Shnayder <victor@edx.org>
-Matthew Mongeau <halogenandtoast@gmail.com>
-Tony Kim <kimth@edx.org>
-Arjun Singh <arjun810@gmail.com>
-John Hess <mgojohn@gmail.com>
-Carlos Andrés Rocha <rocha@edx.org>
-Mike Chen <ccp0101@gmail.com>
-Rocky Duan <dementrock@gmail.com>
-Sidhanth Rao <sidhanth@mitx.mit.edu>
-Brittany Cheng <bcheng42@gmail.com>
-Dhaval Adjodah <dhaval@mit.edu>
-Tom Giannattasio <tom@mitx.mit.edu>
-Ibrahim Awwal <ibrahim.awwal@gmail.com>
-Sarina Canelake <sarina@edx.org>
-Mark L. Chang <mark.chang@gmail.com>
-Dean Dieker <ddieker@gmail.com>
-Tommy MacWilliam <tmacwilliam@cs.harvard.edu>
-Nate Hardison <natehardison@gmail.com>
-Chris Dodge <cdodge@edx.org>
-Kevin Chugh <kevinchugh@edx.org>
-Ned Batchelder <ned@nedbatchelder.com>
-Alexander Kryklia <kryklia@gmail.com>
-Vik Paruchuri <vik@edx.org>
-Louis Sobel <sobel@edx.org>
-Brian Wilson <brian@edx.org>
-Ashley Penney <apenney@edx.org>
-Don Mitchell <dmitchell@edx.org>
-Aaron Culich <aculich@edx.org>
-Brian Talbot <btalbot@edx.org>
-Jay Zoldak <jzoldak@edx.org>
-Valera Rozuvan <valera.rozuvan@gmail.com>
-Diana Huang <dkh@edx.org>
-Marco Morales <marcotuts@gmail.com>
-Christina Roberts <christina@edx.org>
-Robert Chirwa <robert@edx.org>
-Ed Zarecor <ed@edx.org>
-Deena Wang <thedeenawang@gmail.com>
-Jean Manuel Náter <jnater@edx.org>
-Emily Zhang <1800.ehz.hang@gmail.com>
-Jennifer Akana <jaakana@gmail.com>
-Peter Baratta <peter.baratta@gmail.com>
-Julian Arni <julian@edx.org>
-Arthur Barrett <abarrett@edx.org>
-Vasyl Nakvasiuk <vaxxxa@gmail.com>
-Will Daly <will@edx.org>
-James Tauber <jtauber@jtauber.com>
-Greg Price <gprice@edx.org>
-Joe Blaylock <jrbl@stanford.edu>
-Sef Kloninger <sef@kloninger.com>
-Anton Stupak <s2pak.anton@gmail.com>
-David Adams <dcadams@stanford.edu>
-Steve Strassmann <straz@edx.org>
-Giulio Gratta <giulio@giuliogratta.com>
-David Baumgold <david@davidbaumgold.com>
-Jason Bau <jbau@stanford.edu>
-Frances Botsford <frances@edx.org>
-Jonah Stanley <Jonah_Stanley@brown.edu>
-Slater Victoroff <slater.r.victoroff@gmail.com>
-Peter Fogg <peter.p.fogg@gmail.com>
-Bethany LaPenta <lapentab@mit.edu>
-Renzo Lucioni <renzo@edx.org>
-Felix Sun <felixsun@mit.edu>
-Adam Palay <adam@edx.org>
-Ian Hoover <ihoover@edx.org>
-Mukul Goyal <miki@edx.org>
-Robert Marks <rmarks@edx.org>
-Yarko Tymciurak <yarkot1@gmail.com>
-Miles Steele <miles@milessteele.com>
-Kevin Luo <kevluo@edx.org>
-Akshay Jagadeesh <akjags@gmail.com>
-Nick Parlante <nick.parlante@cs.stanford.edu>
-Marko Seric <marko.seric@math.uzh.ch>
-Felipe Montoya <felipe.montoya@edunext.co>
-Julia Hansbrough <julia@edx.org>
-Pavel Yushchenko <pavelyushchenko@gmail.com>
-Nicolas Chevalier <nicolas.chevalier@epitech.eu>
-Gabe Mulley <gabe@edx.org>
-Iain Dunning <idunning@mit.edu>
-Olivier Marquez <oliviermarquez@gmail.com>
-Florian Dufour <neurolit@gmail.com>
-Manuel Freire <manuel.freire@fdi.ucm.es>
-Daniel Cebrián Robles <danielcebrianr@gmail.com>
-Carson Gee <cgee@mit.edu>
-Gang Chen <goncha@gmail.com>
-Bertrand Marron <bertrand.marron@ionis-group.com>
-Yihua Lou <supermouselyh@hotmail.com>
-Andy Armstrong <andya@edx.org>
-Matt Drayer <mattdrayer@edx.org>
-Cristian Salamea <cristian.salamea@iaen.edu.ec>
-Graham Lowe <graham.lowe@gmail.com>
-Matt Bachmann <bachmann.matt@gmail.com>
-Dave St.Germain <dstgermain@edx.org>
-Usman Khalid <2200617@gmail.com>
-John Kern <kern3020@gmail.com>
-John Orr <jorr@google.com>
-Mark Hoeber <hoeber@edx.org>
-Waheed Ahmed <waheed.ahmed@arbisoft.com>
-Javier Orts Peñarrocha <jorts@upv.es>
-Stephen Sanchez <steve@edx.org>
-Jim Abramson <jsa@edx.org>
-Chris Rossi <chris@archimedeanco.com>
-Oleg Marshev <oleh.marshev@gmail.com>
-Sylvia Pearce <spearce@edx.org>
-Olga Stroilova <olga@edx.org>
-Paul-Olivier Dehaye <paulolivier@gmail.com>
-Feanil Patel <feanil@edx.org>
-Zubair Afzal <zubair.afzal@arbisoft.com>
-Juho Kim <juhokim@edx.org>
-Alison Hodges <ahodges@edx.org>
-Jane Manning <jmanning@gmail.com>
-Toddi Norum <toddi@edx.org>
-Xavier Antoviaque <xavier@antoviaque.org>
-Ali Reza Sharafat <ali.sharafat@gmail.com>
-Avinash Sajjanshetty <avinashsajjan@gmail.com>
-David Glance <david.glance@gmail.com>
-Nimisha Asthagiri <nasthagiri@edx.org>
-Martyn James <mjames@edx.org>
-Han Su Kim <hkim823@gmail.com>
-Raees Chachar <raees.chachar@arbisoft.com>
-Muhammad Ammar <muhammad.ammar@arbisoft.com>
-William Desloge <william.desloge@ionis-group.com>
-Martin Segado <msegado@mit.edu>
-Marco Re <mrc.re@tiscali.it>
-Jonas Jelten <jelten@in.tum.de>
-Christine Lytwynec <clytwynec@edx.org>
-John Cox <johncox@google.com>
-Ben Weeks <benweeks@mit.edu>
-David Bodor <david.gabor.bodor@gmail.com>
-Sébastien Hinderer <Sebastien.Hinderer@inria.fr>
-Kristin Stephens <ksteph@cs.berkeley.edu>
-Ben Patterson <bpatterson@edx.org>
-Luis Duarte <lduarte1991@gmail.com>
-Steven Burch <stv@stanford.edu>
-Waqas Khalid <wkhalid@edx.org>
-Muhammad Ammar <mammar@edx.org>
-Abdallah Nassif <abdoosh00@gmail.com>
-Johnny Brown <johnnybrown7@gmail.com>
-Ben McMorran <bmcmorran@edx.org>
-Mat Peterson <mpeterson@edx.org>
-Tim Babych <tim.babych@gmail.com>
-Brandon DeRosier <btd@cheesekeg.com>
-Daniel Li <swli@edx.org>
-Daniel Friedman <dfriedman@edx.org>
-Zia Fazal <zia.fazal@arbisoft.com>
-Asad Iqbal <aiqbal@edx.org>
-Peter Pinch <pdpinch@mit.edu>
-Muhammad Shoaib <mshoaib@edx.org>
-Nicholas Dupoux <njdupoux1994@gmail.com>
-Julia Eskew <jeskew@edx.org>
-Juanan Pereira <juanan.pereira@ehu.es>
-Clinton Blackburn <cblackburn@edx.org>
-Dennis Jen <djen@edx.org>
-Filippo Valsorda <hi@filippo.io>
-Ivica Ceraj <ceraj@mit.edu>
-Jason Zhu <fmyzjs@gmail.com>
-Marceau Cnudde <marceau.cnudde@gmail.com>
-Braden MacDonald <mail@bradenm.com>
-Jonathan Piacenti <kelketek@gmail.com>
-Alasdair Swan <aswan@edx.org>
-Paul Medlock-Walton <paulmw@mit.edu>
-Henry Tareque <henry.tareque@gmail.com>
-Eugeny Kolpakov <eugeny.kolpakov@gmail.com>
-Omar Al-Ithawi <i@omardo.com>
-Louis Pilfold <louis@lpil.uk>
-Akiva Leffert <akiva@edx.org>
-Mike Bifulco <mbifulco@aquent.com>
-Jim Zheng <jimzheng@stanford.edu>
-Afzal Wali <afzalwalinaushahi@gmail.com>
-Julien Romagnoli <julien.romagnoli@fbmx.net>
-Wenjie Wu <wuwenjie718@gmail.com>
-Aamir <aamir.nu.206@gmail.com>
-Steve Jackson <sjackso@ixoreus.net>
-Steffan Sluis <steffansluis@gmail.com>
-Siem Kok <siem@feedbackfruits.com>
-Régis Behmo <regis.behmo@openfun.fr>
-Mark Sadecki <msadecki@edx.org>
-Dino Cikatić <dcikatic@edx.org>
-Davorin Šego <dsego@edx.org>
-Marko Jevtić <mjevtic@edx.org>
-Ahsan Ulhaq <ahsan@edx.org>
-Mat Moore <mat@mooresoftware.co.uk>
-Muzaffar Yousaf <muzaffar@edx.org>
-Sylvain <sylvain@openfun.fr>
-Mayank Jain <mjmayank@gmail.com>
-Carlos de la Guardia <cguardia@yahoo.com>
-Matjaz Gregoric <mtyaka@gmail.com>
-Kyle Boots <indagation@gmail.com>
-John Espinosa <johncespinosa@gmail.com>
-Phil McGachey <phil_mcgachey@harvard.edu>
-Sri Harsha Pamu <kmitharsha@gmail.com>
-Cris Ewing <cris@crisewing.com>
-Carlos de La Guardia <carlos@jazkarta.com>
-Amir Qayyum Khan <amir.qayyum.khan@gmail.com>
-Jolyon Bloomfield <jolyon@mit.edu>
-Kyle McCormick <kylemccor@gmail.com>
-Jim Cai <jimcai@stanford.edu>
-Richard Moch <richard.moch@gmail.com>
-Randy Ostler <rando305@gmail.com>
-Thomas Young <thomas@upcoder.com>
-Andrew Dekker <simultech@gmail.com>
-Christopher Lee <clee@edx.org>
-Mushtaq Ali <mushtaak@gmail.com>
-Colin Fredericks <colin.fredericks@gmail.com>
-Xiaolu Xiong <beardeer@gmail.com>
-Tim Krones <t.krones@gmx.net>
-Linda Liu <lliu@edx.org>
-Alessandro Verdura <finalmente2@tin.it>
-Sven Marnach <sven@marnach.net>
-Richard Moch <richard.moch@gmail.com>
-Albert Liang <albertliangcode@gmail.com>
-Pan Luo <pan.luo@ubc.ca>
-Tyler Nickerson <nickersoft@gmail.com>
-Daniel Naranjo <daniel.naranjo@edunext.co>
-Vedran Karačić <vedran@edx.org>
-William Ono <william.ono@ubc.ca>
-Dongwook Yoon <dy252@cornell.edu>
-Sola Shirai <sola@edx.org>
-Awais Qureshi <awais.qureshi@arbisoft.com>
-Eric Fischer <efischer@edx.org>
-Brian Beggs <macdiesel@gmail.com>
-Bill DeRusha <bill@edx.org>
-Kevin Falcone <kevin@edx.org>
-Mirjam Škarica <mirjamskarica@gmail.com>
-Saleem Latif <saleem@edx.org>
-Julien Paillé <julien.paille@openfun.fr>
-Michael Frey <mfrey@edx.org>
-Hasnain Naveed <hasnain@edx.org>
-J. Cliff Dyer <cdyer@edx.org>
-Jamie Folsom <jfolsom@mit.edu>
-George Schneeloch <gschneel@mit.edu>
-Dustin Gadal <Dustin.Gadal@gmail.com>
-Ibrahim Ahmed <ibrahimahmed443@gmail.com>
-Robert Raposa <rraposa@edx.org>
-Giovanni Di Milia <gdimilia@mit.edu>
-Peter Wilkins <pwilkins@mit.edu>
-Justin Abrahms <abrahms@mit.edu>
-Arbab Nazar <arbab@edx.org>
-Douglas Hall <dhall@edx.org>
-Awais Jibran <awaisdar001@gmail.com>
-Muhammad Rehan <muhammadrehan69@gmail.com>
-Shawn Milochik <shawn@milochik.com>
-Afeef Janjua <janjua.afeef@gmail.com>
-Jacek Bzdak <jbzdak@gmail.com>
-Ahmed Jazzar <ajazzar@qrf.org>
-Jillian Vogel <pomegranited@gmail.com>
-Dan Powell <dan@abakas.com>
-Mariana Araújo <simbelm.ne@gmail.com>
-Muhammad Ayub Khan <ayub.khan@arbisoft.com>
-Kaloian Doganov <doganov@gmail.com>
-Sanford Student <sstudent@edx.org>
-Florian Haas <florian@hastexo.com>
-Leonardo Quiñonez <leonardo.quinonez@edunext.co>
-Dmitry Viskov <dmitry.viskov@webenterprise.ru>
-Brian Jacobel <bjacobel@edx.org>
-Sigberto Alarcon <salarcon@stanford.edu>
-Sofiya Semenova <ssemenova@edx.org>
-Alisan Tang <atang@edx.org>
-Kevin Kim <kkim@edx.org>
-Albert St. Aubin Jr. <astaubin@edx.org>
-Casey Litton <caseylitton@gmail.com>
-Jhony Avella <jhony.avella@edunext.co>
-Tanmay Mohapatra <tanmaykm@gmail.com>
-Brian Mesick <bmesick@edx.org>
-Jeff LaJoie <jlajoie@edx.org>
-Ivan Ivić <iivic@edx.org>
-Brandon Baker <bcbaker@wesleyan.edu>
-Salah Alomari <salomari@qrf.org>
-Shirley He <she@edx.org>
-Po Tsui <potsui@stanford.edu>
-Rabia Iftikhar <rabiaiftikhar2392@gmail.com>
-Matt Tuchfarber <mtuchfarber@edx.org>
-Stuart Young <syoung@edx.org>
-Michael Youngstrom <myoungstrom@edx.org>
-Sahar Markovich <sahar.markovich@gmail.com>
-Asad Azam <asadazam93@gmail.com>
diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.rst b/CONTRIBUTING.rst
index d7bcd90243d..d778623ac8d 100644
--- a/CONTRIBUTING.rst
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.rst
@@ -111,14 +111,6 @@ Alternatively, you're also free to physically mail the agreement to the street
 address on the agreement. Once we have your agreement in hand, we can begin
 reviewing and merging your work.
 
-You'll also need to add yourself to the `AUTHORS` file when you submit your
-first pull request.  You should add your full name as well as the email address
-associated with your GitHub account.  Please update `AUTHORS` in an individual
-commit, distinct from other changes in the pull request (it's OK for a pull
-request to contain multiple commits, including a commit to `AUTHORS`).
-Alternatively, you can open up a separate PR just to have your name added to
-the `AUTHORS` file, and link that PR to the PR with your changes.
-
 Step 2: Fork, Commit, and Pull Request
 ======================================
 GitHub has some great documentation on `how to fork a git repository`_. Once