Afghanistan
Are Afghanistan stamps public domain?
Afghanistan stamps issued in 1975 or earlier are public domain in 2026, in the archive's reading of Wikimedia Commons. Commons says copyright in an Afghan stamp ends 50 years after it was first put into circulation. The cutoff moves forward one year each January, so stamps from 1976 become free in 2027.
Why 50 years?
Commons takes the term from Afghanistan's 2008 copyright law, which protected photography and painting works for 50 years from first publication; a 2016 law kept similar 50-year terms.1 Commons says that as of May 2026 there is no evidence the pre-2021 law has changed, and that the Ministry of Information and Culture of the Islamic Emirate still lists the 2016 law.1 The license tag Commons names for old stamps covers paintings and photographs published more than 50 years ago.2 The tag also warns that Afghan works still in copyright in Afghanistan on July 29, 2016, the date Commons gives for the URAA, may be copyrighted in the United States.12
Postal history and copyright
Afghanistan's first stamps appeared in 1871, and until the country joined the Universal Postal Union in 1928, international mail needed stamps of British India.3 Stamp issues stopped from 1989 to 2001. Many unofficial stamps printed in those years were disavowed by the postal service in 2000 and again by the Karzai government in 2003.3 Commons' note does not address these disavowed issues, and the archive treats their status as open. Commons' page also records a press law that a 1982 UNESCO survey dated to 1950, which gave 20 years from registration; its note on stamps does not say whether that law bears on older stamps.1 Since the Taliban took Kabul in 2021, Afghan Post has not allowed stamps of the previous government on mail, and has sold them to collectors since late 2022.3
References 3
- ↑ Copyright rules for Afghanistan. Wikimedia Commons, August 26, 2026. Accessed October 8, 2026.
- ↑ Wikimedia Commons license tag (Afghanistan). Wikimedia Commons, February 6, 2025. Accessed October 8, 2026.
- ↑ Postage stamps and postal history of Afghanistan. Wikipedia, September 30, 2026. Accessed October 8, 2026.
The rule by period
Afghanistan stamps and the public domain: questions
- Are Afghanistan stamps public domain?
- It depends on the date. In the archive's reading, Afghanistan stamps issued in 1975 or earlier are public domain in 2026, because copyright in an Afghan stamp ends 50 years after it was first put into circulation. Stamps issued in 1976 or later are still in copyright.
- When does an Afghan stamp enter the public domain?
- Fifty years after it was first put into circulation. The archive counts those 50 years from the end of the year of issue, so Afghan stamps from 1975 or earlier are free in 2026. The cutoff moves forward one year each January, and stamps from 1976 become free in 2027.
- Are Afghan stamps public domain in the United States?
- Not always. Afghan works still in copyright in Afghanistan on July 29, 2016, the date Commons gives for the URAA, may be copyrighted in the United States. An Afghan stamp that is public domain in Afghanistan may still be protected in the United States.
- What about unofficial Afghan stamps from 1989 to 2001?
- Their status is open. Afghan stamp issues stopped from 1989 to 2001, and many unofficial stamps printed in those years were disavowed by the postal service in 2000 and again by the Karzai government in 2003. Commons does not address these disavowed issues, so the archive treats them as an open question.