Albania
Are Albania stamps public domain?
Stamps of Albania are public domain at any date, in the archive's reading of Wikimedia Commons. Commons says an Albanian government regulation treats postage stamps as a means of paying for postal services, and Albania's copyright law leaves means of payment unprotected. There is no cutoff year.
Why any date?
Albania's Law No. 35/2016 on Copyright and Related Rights lists material it does not protect. Means of payment are on that list, beside official state symbols such as arms, seals and flags.1 Commons ties stamps to that clause through a Council of Ministers decision on postal stamps, No. 1039 of December 16, 2015, whose general provisions say a postal stamp is used to pay for postal services.1 Commons therefore tags Albanian stamps as works the law leaves outside copyright.12 The exemption has no date attached, so the archive answers Yes for every Albanian stamp.
Postal history and copyright
Albania used stamps of the Ottoman Empire from 1870 until it issued its own in 1913, and during the Second World War stamps were produced under Italian, German and Greek occupation.3 Commons says Albania had no copyright law before 1992, and that the 1992 law reached back to protect works made before it.1 The exemption Commons relies on comes from the 2016 law and a 2015 regulation. Commons' note does not say whether it also covers the stamps of 1913 or those of the wartime occupations, and the archive treats that question as open.
References 3
- ↑ Copyright rules for Albania. Wikimedia Commons, August 27, 2026. Accessed October 8, 2026.
- ↑ Wikimedia Commons license tag (Albania). Wikimedia Commons, December 14, 2021. Accessed October 8, 2026.
- ↑ Postage stamps and postal history of Albania. Wikipedia, January 2, 2026. Accessed October 8, 2026.
Copyright law in Albania
Albania’s own stamps follow the rule below. The historical issuers named here are read under the country’s general copyright law. A design answers Likely yes or Likely no only when every term that could apply agrees, and Unclear when they disagree.
- Named designer
- 70 years after the designer’s death
- Anonymous
- 70 years from issue
- Note
- Albanian stamps count as a means of payment, which Article 12.1(ç) exempts from copyright.
Historical issuers read under this law: Albania (German Occupation), Albania (Greek Occupation), Albania (Italian Occupation), Durazzo (Italian Post Office), Epirus, Korce (Koritza), Saseno (Italian Occupation), Scutari (Italian Post Office), Valona (Italian Post Office).
Read from Wikimedia Commons, copyright rules for Albania, revision 1268133138, checked October 8, 2026
The rule by period
Albania stamps and the public domain: questions
- Are Albanian stamps public domain?
- Yes. In the archive's reading, Albanian stamps of any date are public domain, because Albania's 2016 copyright law does not protect means of payment and a 2015 government decision says a postal stamp is used to pay for postal services. There is no cutoff year.
- Why are Albanian stamps not copyrighted?
- Because Albanian law treats them as a means of payment. Albania's 2016 copyright law does not protect means of payment, and a 2015 Council of Ministers decision says a postal stamp is used to pay for postal services. Read together, in the archive's reading, they leave Albanian stamps of any date outside copyright.
- Does Albania's public domain rule cover stamps from the Italian occupation?
- Not clearly. The exemption for Albanian stamps rests on a 2016 law and a 2015 regulation, and Wikimedia Commons does not say whether it reaches the first stamps of 1913 or those issued under Italian, German and Greek occupation in the Second World War. The archive treats those issues as an open question.