Commons:Stamps: Difference between revisions

Stamps of Albania are in public domain. Please tag PD-Albania-exempt to each image.

Stamps of Armenia are in public domain. Please tag PD-AM-exempt to each image.

Stamps of Azerbaijan are in the public domain (but see Commons:Deletion requests/File:1995 John Lennon..jpg). Please tag PD-AZ-exempt to each image.

Stamps of Belarus (Belorussia) are in public domain. According to the Copyright Law of the Republic of Belarus No. 370-XIII of May 16, 1996, "state symbols and signs (flag, coat of arms, anthem, awards, banknotes and other signs)" are not copyrightable.^[1] According to the Postage Law of the Republic of Belarus No. 258-З of December 15, 2003, "postage stamp is an official (state) sign of postage printed on paper and carrying an artwork, and inscriptions "БЕЛАРУСЬ", "BELARUS", year of issue (in Arabic letters) and a par value (in Arabic figures). The par value of postage stamp may be designated in letters."^[2]

Please tag PD-BY-exempt to each image.

For Belgium applies the following rule: The image of a stamp is copyright free when the following conditions are fulfilled: 70 years after La Poste / De Post have issued the stamp AND 70 years after the designer of the image on the stamp has died.

Stamps of Bolivia are not believed to be in the public domain. See here. Bolivia implements the shorter copyright rule of life + 50 years.^[3]

Canadian stamps are under "Crown copyright", which expires after 50 years. See en:Crown copyright.

Stamps appear to be out of copyright after 50 years. Please use Template:PD-Colombia.

The basic copyright law of Costa Rica is: Ley Nº 6683 - Ley de Derechos de Autor y Derechos Conexos. There are no specific provision for copyrights of postage stamps, but all works are copyrighted until 70 years after the author's death. In the case of government agencies and other public entities the copyrights of official works expired after 25 years, and in special cases after 50 years (i.e. books), both since the original publication date.

Postage stamps of Czechoslovakia (they were published in 1918-1939 and in 1945-1992) are copyrighted 70 years after the author's death by both authors: an engraver and a graphic artist. (Übersicht der Briefmarkenkünstler s. Lexikon ...)

Postal stamps of Czech Republic (they are since 1993) are copyrighted 70 years after the author's death by both authors: an engraver and a graphic artist. They are not official works. Stamps are officially announced in Poštovní věstník (Postal bulletin, it is published at least since 2000) and texts in this bulletin is public domain but the stamps are copyrighted.

Ecuador postage stamps are in the public domain, per email received from Sr. Eduardo Espinosa of their Philatelic Bureau in response to my inquiry. Their Copyright Law is: LEY DE PROPIEDAD INTELECTUAL, Ley No. 83. Jack Child 00:40, 6 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

The basic copyright law of El Salvador is: Decreto 604, 15 July 1993. Specific permission to use images of postage stamps for non-commercial educational, philatelic and cultural purposes is contained in an email message dated 11 January 2007 from Silvia María Orantes, Head of the Philatelic Office, Government of El Salvador.

There are no specific laws on the copyright status of stamps. Ethiopian stamps are in the public domain 50 years after the date of issue, per the Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Protection Proclamation No. 410/2004, which states that "Economic rights shall belong to the author during his lifetime and to the heirs or legatees for fifty years from the date of death of the author" (Art. 20) and "The economic rights relating to an audiovisual work shall be protected for fifty years beginning from the date of making of the work or communication of the work to the public, which ever date is the latest."

All stamps issued are public domain. See Template talk:Faroe stamps.

Postage stamps first published before January 1, 1990 are in the public domain, as they are parts of decisions by an authority of Finland. Use {{PD-FinlandStamp}} for them. The Finnish copyright law of 2005 specifies that no copyright exists in decisions or statements by an authority of Finland (§ 9). Postage stamps first published after 1989 are not in the public domain, and they should not be uploaded. Because Posti- ja telelaitos, the authority for mail services, was changed from an authority to a company in the beginning of 1990, postage stamps published by Posti- ja telelaitos were not anymore parts of decisions by an authority. Most probably the copyright owner of postage stamps published after 1989 are Itella Oyj or the designer of them. A picture of a Finnish postage stamp first published after 1989 should be speedily deleted, unless permission has been granted by Itella Oyj and the designer of the postage stamp.

What is sure is that stamps by designers deceased more than 70 years ago (plus years of war) are public domain.

The names of the artists are generally printed at the bottom of the stamps or its main picture.

On 1st January 2009, it appears that all postage stamps of France issued until 1918 are in the public domain (and not the 1919 stamp known as "the two orphans" - cause: no information is found on the date of death of Surand and Jarraud).

The following list is non-exhaustive :

The stamps of Georgia are in public domain. Use the Template:PD-GE-exempt tag to each image.

According to a decision by a German regional court (Landgericht Berlin) in a case of the heirs of German artist Loriot against the Wikimedia Foundation, announced 27 March 2012, German postage stamps are not "official works" according to § 5 I or II UrhG and are therefore not in the public domain, as previously assumed on Commons.

Stamps of other private entities are copyrighted as well. However, the usual German copyright expiration term applies - copyright expires 70 years after 1 January after death of the creator. Some individual stamps may be copyright-free for other reasons (i.e. simple graphic design).

Outdated license templates, to be deleted or changed:

• Template:PD-German stamps
  for stamps of Deutsche Post AG, issued from 5 May 1995 on (imprint „Deutschland“)
• Template:PD-Deutsche Bundespost stamps
  for stamps of Deutsche Bundespost (Federal Mail, including Berlin and Saarland) issued from 1949 until 6 April 1995
• Template:PD-GDR stamps
  for stamps of Deutsche Post der DDR (German Democratic Republic, 1945 - 1990)
• Template:PD-DBZ stamps
  for stamps issued by Allied Occupation authorities (1945 - 1949)
• Template:PD-German Empire stamps
  for stamps of Deutsche Reichspost (Imperial Mail, including foreign entities) issued before 1945
• For stamps of the pre-Imperial German states the Template:PD-old applies.

Stamps by artists deceased more than 70 years ago (or pseudonymously designed more than 70 years ago) are free. The copyright status of all other stamps issued before 1970 is disputed (possibly {{PD-GreekGov}} as government administrative documents). Stamps issued since 1970 follow the 70 years pma rule. See Category:Stamps of Greece for details.

Stamps by artists deceased more than 60 years ago (or pseudonymously designed more than 60 years ago) are free. See the Haitian law on copyright (Articles 20 to 23).

Only Indian stamps older than 60 years are in the public domain. See en.wikipedia discussion here and here.

According to the India Post website the following applies: "Reproduction of stamps is allowed for illustration purposes in Philatelic Publication or in an article relating wholly on postage stamps which may appear in any magazine, newspaper or publication of a general character. Such reproduction should however, be only in black. If stamps are to be produced in colour for publicity purposes, prior permission of the Director General of Posts must be obtained."^[4]

Stamps of the Republic of Indonesia are in the public domain. Use Template:PD-IDGov to tag them.

Iraqi stamps older than 50 years are in the public domain. Use Template:PD-Iraq to tag them.

Irish stamps issued before 1984 are official works and those over 50 years old are in the public domain. Use Template:PD-IrishGov to tag them.

Paragraph 51 of Israeli Postal Services Statute 1986, in its 2004 revised version (חוק הדואר התשמ"ו, תיקון התשס"ד), stipulates that the State owns full copyrights for Israeli stamps. The Israeli copyright statute from 2007 determines that the State's copyrights expire on 1 January of the 51st year after the creation of the work. Hence, only stamps created 50-51 years ago are in the public domain. Template:PD-IsraelGov would be appropriate to indicate their copyright status.

Until specific information becomes available, apply the 70 years pma rule (or 70 years after issue for anonymous/pseudonymous stamps).

Stamps more than 50 years old are in the public domain, per Template:PD-Japan.

Pursuant to Article 8 of Law No. 6-I of the Republic of Kazakhstan On Copyright and Associated Rights dated June 10, 1996, "official symbols and signs (flags, coats of arms, decorations, bills and coins and other official symbols and signs)" are not copyrighted. Pursuant to Article 1 of Law No. 386-II of Kazakhstan On Post dated February 8, 2003, official signs of postage include "stamps, souvenir sheets, stamped covers, postcards, postage meter marks and other signs introduced into circulation by the authorised agency, which confirm that postal operator services have been paid."

The PD-KZ-exempt template is appropriate for images of stamps, souvenir sheets, stamped covers, postcards, and postage meter marks issued by state entities.

According to section 93 of the Lao People's Democratic Republic's Intellectual Property Laws No. 08/NA of December 24, 2007, in force on April 14, 2008, stamps which were published more than 50 years ago are in public domain. See Commons:Licensing#Laos for details.

According to the Copyright Law of the Republic of Latvia: of April 6, 2000, Section 6, "State approved, as well as internationally recognised official symbols and signs" are "Non-Protected Works", therefore all stamps are in Public Domain. Each image should be tagged with this Template:PD-LV-exempt template.

Manchukuo was founded in 1932 after Japanese troops occupied Northeast China and dissolved by the Soviet Union in 1945. As China has always claimed Northeast China without recognizing Manchukuo, any copyright of Manchukuo stamps would have expired no later on 1 January 1996 as China limits corporate copyright to 50 years since publication and it is no longer clear which individual designed these stamps. Please tag Template:PD-Manchukuo-stamps to each image.

According to the law on Copyright of the Republic of Moldova no. 293-XIII of November 23, 1994 (Amended by Law no. 1268-XV, of July 25, 2002) Article 7. refers to "State emblems and official signs (flags, armorial bearings, decorations, monetary signs, etc.)" as Works Not Protected by Copyright; therefore images of stamps are deemed to be in the public domain. Please tag Template:PD-MD-exempt template to each such image.

Mozambique copyright law instituted in 2001 states that copyright subsists for 70 years following completion for "works of applied art" which appears to cover stamps.

See article in Dutch on http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Beleid_voor_gebruik_van_media/Postzegels.
Prior to 1 January 1989, the government-owned corporation PTT made the stamps as being created by the company and as such was considered their author. The rule applies in The Netherlands that copyright expires 70 years after 1 January after death of the author.

From 1 January 1989 onwards, the PTT became the private company TNT Post. The rules are sometimes different compared to the period before 01-01-1989; for example, when there are more than one author of a stamp.

According to the Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Protection Act 6 of 1994 [1], copyright of government-produced work is held by the state, and lasts for a period of 50 years after publication.

The Namibian post was originally a department of the government's Ministry of Works, Transport and Communication, and became Namibia Post Ltd, or NamPost, in 1992.

In New Zealand, the Crown Copyright is defined by Sections 2(1), 26 et 27 of the 1994 Copyright Act. It lasts 100 years, with exceptions. It protects the work created by a person employed or engaged by the Crown, Ministers of the Crown, offices of Parliament and government departments. See the article on the Wikipedia in English.

According to this law, images of New Zealand stamps are in the public domain :

• 50 years after issue for stamps issued before 31 December 1944 (Template:PD-NZ-50-years on the Wikipedia in English). Use Template:PD-NZ-50-years. All stamps from 1944 and before are thus in the Public Domain.
• 100 years after issue for stamps issued between 1 January 1945 and the 31 March 1987 by the New Zealand Post Office as a Department of the Government. At the time of writing, this is still well in the future.

According to NK copyright law, the "documents of State management such as ordinance, decision or directive, current news and bulletins shall not be the object of copyright". Use: {{PD-DPRKGov}}

All stamps issued in the Ottoman Empire are in the public domain, use {{PD-Ottoman}}. For stamps issued by the Rupublic of Turkey after 1923, see Turkey.

Pakistani stamps are 1) in public domain unless (and until) the Government of Pakistan registers for copyright protection for Pakistani stamps with the Registrar of Copyright office, 2) Pakistani stamps can be used on Wikimedia on a "fair dealing" condition.

According to the American embassy in Pakistan^[5], the following is "Not copyright infringement in Pakistan":

A fair dealing with a literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work for the purpose of reporting current events:

• - in a newspaper, magazine or similar periodical; or
• - by broadcast or in a cinematograph film or by means of photographs — Preceding unsigned comment added by Jalal0 (talk • contribs) 19:56, 25 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]

While Pakistan has a copyright protection law which can apply for its postal stamp, copyright laws however do not apply on postal stamps, because all copyright claims need to be registered with the Registrar of Copyright office according to Chapter 8 of Pakistan's Copyright Ordinance, 1962^[6]. The government of Pakistan is the author of all Pakistani postal stamp, and no claim of copyright ownership is known to have been made by the Pakistani government on postal stamp with the Registrar of Copyright office so far. Pakistan Post website also makes no claim on the copyright policy on Pakistani stamp.^[7] — Preceding unsigned comment added by ALE! (talk • contribs) 11:09, 27 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]

According to Pakistan's Copyright Ordinance, 1962, Chapter 1, stamp can be classified as artistic:

• (c) "artistic" work' means:-
  • (i) a painting, a sculpture, a drawing (including a diagram, map, chart or plan), an engraving or a photograph, whether or not any such work possess artistic quality;

Copyright ownership of stamps is maintained by the Government of Pakistan, as stamps in Pakistan is issued by Pakistan Post, which works under the Government of Pakistan. Chapter 1 of the Act states:

• (m) "Government work" means a work which is made or published by or under the direction or control of:-
  • (i) the Government or any department of the Government;

• 39. Registration of copyrights, --(1) The author or publisher of, or the owner of or other person interested in the copyright in, any work may make an application in the prescribed form accompanied by the prescribed fee to the Registrar for entering particulars of the work in the Register of Copyrights. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Jalal0 (talk • contribs) 19:56, 25 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]

The basic copyright law of Paraguay is Law N° 1328/98 on Copyright and Related Rights, as entered into force on October 20, 1998. Postage stamps are all in the public domain, as confirmed in an email message dated 15 January 2007 from Graciela Mármol, Head of Philatelic Advisory, Government of Paraguay. For text, see discussion. Jack Child 13:38, 15 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

According to the Romanian Law on Copyright and Neighboring Rights Law no. 8/1996 of March 14, 1996 with further amendments Chapter 3 Article 9 "means of payment" shall not benefit from the legal protection accorded to copyright; therefore images of stamps are deemed to be in the public domain. Please tag Template:PD-RO-exempt template to each such image.

Pursuant to Article 1259.6 of Part IV of the Civil Code (No. 230-FZ) of the Russian Federation dated December 18, 2006, "official symbols and signs (flags, emblems, orders, banknotes, and the like), as well as symbols and signs of municipal formations" are not copyrighted. Pursuant to Article 2 of Federal Law No. 176-FZ of the Russian Federation On Postal Service dated July 17, 1999, official signs of postage include "postage stamps and other signs put on mail and evidencing that postage has been paid".

Article 1.1 of Official Postage Signs and Special Postmarks Regulations (Положение о знаках почтовой оплаты и специальных почтовых штемпелях, put into force 26 May 1994 with Order of Ministry of Communication of Russian Federation No 115) define the official postage signs concretely and label postage stamps, souvenir and miniature sheets, stamped envelopes, and postal stationery cards as the postage signs.

Use the template PD-RU-exempt to the stamps and the postal stationeries issued by Russian Post.

South African stamps older than 50 years are in the public domain, use Template:PD-SAGov

According to Articles 39 to 44 of the Copyright Act of the Republic of Korea, copyrighted works enter the public domain 50 years after publication when made public in the name of an organization. Use {{PD-South Korea}}

Communication with Spain's Philatelic Bureau suggests no public domain. Permission to scan images of Spanish stamps requires a specific request to José Luis Fernandez Reyero, Director de Filatelia, Sociedad Estatal de Correos y Telégrafos, S.A., Vía Dublin, 7, 28070 Madrid, Spain. For text, see discussion. Jack Child 23:50, 19 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

According to en:Spanish copyright law, while most official works are not protected by copyright, standalone images are specifically exempted, and the author retains copyright. So it is safe to assume that Spanish stamps are copyright their designers, in which case the 70 pma standard applies (after 1987; before that date, 80 pma applies). If the designer is unknown, then the stamp falls into the public domain 70 years after it was issued (80 years if issued before 1987).

Swedish stamps do not seem to have a copyright exception in Sweden, so stamps are in PD 70 years after the death of the engraver. See also: Category talk:Stamps of Sweden.

The stamps of Tajikistan are in public domain. Use the Template:PD-TJ-exempt tag to each image.

The copyright of postage stamps is held by Thailand Post and lasts 50 years. See full text of Copyright Act B.E. 2537 (1994). (Section 14, 19, 32)

The current copyright law of Turkey provides that copyright owned by a legal entity lasts for 70 years from first publication, and that copyright owned by an individual lasts for 70 years from death. See Law No. 5846 (12 May, 1951, as amended), Art. 27. That law provides that the creator of a work owns the copyright, except where the creator is employed by someone else, including an entity, in which case the employer or entity owns the copyright. Id., Art. 8. The copyright for stamps designed by employees of the Turkish government therefore should belong to the Turkish government and should last 70 years from publication.

Thus, any stamp issued 70 or more years ago is public domain.

According to Article 1061 of the Civil Code of Turkmenistan of July 17, 1998, state symbols and signs (flag, coat of arms, anthem, awards, banknotes and other signs) are not copyrightable; therefore the postage stamps of Turkmenistan are in public domain. Use the Template:PD-TK-exempt tag to each image.

According to the Article 10 of the Law of Ukraine on Copyright and Related rights, all Ukrainian stamps are in the public domain. They are defined as "state signs" in the Law of Ukraine On Postal Service (4 October 2001) :

in Ukrainian : Закон України. Про поштовий зв'язок

поштова марка - державний знак, виготовлений у встановленому законодавством порядку із зазначенням його номінальної вартості та держави, який є засобом оплати послуг поштового зв'язку, що надаються національним оператором.

translated into English The Law of Ukraine. On Postal Service (October 4, 2001; N 2759-III)

postage stamp means a state sign manufactured according to the procedure set forth by legislation, with specified face value and state, serving as the tool of payment for postal services provided by the national operator.

The PD-UA-exempt template applies because of its d) point.

The 2002 UAE law states that such works as stamps are protected for 50 years starting from 1 January of the publication year. Yet the 1992 law gave a 25 years copyright protection (starting from the publication date). This means that all UAE postage stamps printed before 1977 are in public domain. Stamps issued after that year should wait 50 years.

One may tag Template:PD-United Arab Emirates stamp to any such image.

Title 17 of the United States Code (source : en:United States Postal Service) :

• public domain if issued before 31 December 1977
• copyrighted by the United States Postal Service after 1 January 1978 (the date on which the Copyright Act of 1976 went into effect). [2] Written permission is needed, see USPS site.

Many British stamps are "Crown Copyright", which expires after 50 years and puts the stamps in the public domain. (See en:Crown copyright.) This would also apply to the stamps of the various territories of the British Empire prior to their independence.

Following the creation of the Royal Mail as a separate legal entity the copyright of new British stamps has been held by Royal Mail in its own right.

The Universal Postal Union, in conjunction with the World Association for the Development of Philately (WADP), has developed the WADP Numbering System (WNS), launched on 1 January 2002. The web site (www.wnsstamps.ch/en/) has entries for some 160 countries and emitting postal entities, with over 25,000 registered stamps since 2002. Many of them have images, which generally remain copyrighted by the issuing country, but which the UPU and WADP permit to be downloaded. See discussion.

Since, according to intergovernmental and international treaties, Russian Federation is a legal successor to the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the tag PD-RU-exempt (please see "Russia" above) also applies to images of postage stamps, stamped covers and stamped post cards (postal stationery) of the RSFSR and USSR.

1. ↑ Copyright law in English
2. ↑ Postage Law of the Republic of Belarus No. 258-З of December 15, 2003
3. ↑ Art. 18, Ley No 1322 de 13 de abril de 1992
4. ↑ http://www.indiapost.gov.in/Netscape/Philately.html
5. ↑ http://islamabad.usembassy.gov/root/pdfs/ipr_copyrights.pdf
6. ↑ Pakistan COPYRIGHT ORDINANCE, 1962
7. ↑ Pakistan Post Office Department