Georgia
Are Georgia stamps public domain?
Georgian stamps of any year are public domain, according to Wikimedia Commons, which accepts them under a license tag covering what Georgia's 1999 copyright law leaves unprotected, including official documents and official symbols and signs of the state. The archive reads stamps as official signs of the state. There is no cutoff date.
Why any date?
Commons' note on Georgian stamps says only which license tag to use.1 The tag quotes Article 8 of Georgia's copyright law of 1999, which gives no copyright to official documents, to official symbols of the state such as the flag, emblem, awards, monetary symbols and other official signs, and to information about facts and events.2 Commons does not say which of these covers stamps; in the archive's reading they are official signs of the state. Commons' list of stamp templates says Georgian stamps of any year can be uploaded.3 Commons treats Georgian currency the same way, under the same article.1
Postal history and copyright
Georgia's first stamps were issued on May 26, 1919 by the Democratic Republic of Georgia, which the Red Army invaded in 1921.4 After issues for Soviet Georgia and the Transcaucasian federation in 1922 and 1923, stamps of the Soviet Union were used in Georgia from 1924 until 1993, and independent Georgia issued stamps in its own name from July 31, 1993.4 The Commons tag says Georgia is the legal successor of the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic, so the tag also applies to that republic's official symbols and documents.2 It says nothing about the republic of 1918 to 1921. Commons does not say whether the exemption reaches that republic's stamps; the archive applies the Georgian rule to them all the same.
References 4
- ↑ Copyright rules for Georgia. Wikimedia Commons, September 16, 2026. Accessed October 8, 2026.
- ↑ Wikimedia Commons license tag (Georgia). Wikimedia Commons, March 6, 2021. Accessed October 8, 2026.
- ↑ Stamps: Public domain templates. Wikimedia Commons, June 14, 2025. Accessed October 8, 2026.
- ↑ Postage stamps and postal history of Georgia. Wikipedia, August 15, 2025. Accessed October 8, 2026.
Copyright law in Georgia
Georgia’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
- Older stamps
- A stamp already in the public domain stayed there when the term was extended.
- Note
- Official state symbols, including currency, are not protected, and stamps are treated as exempt.
Historical issuers read under this law: Batum (British Occupation), Transcaucasian Federation.
Read from Wikimedia Commons, copyright rules for Georgia, revision 1277367977, checked October 8, 2026
The rule by period
The same rule covers Georgia (pre-Soviet).
Georgia stamps and the public domain: questions
- Are Georgian stamps public domain?
- Yes, at any date. Georgia's 1999 copyright law gives no copyright to official documents or to official symbols and signs of the state, and the archive reads Georgian stamps as official signs of the state. There is no cutoff year.
- Are stamps of the Democratic Republic of Georgia public domain?
- Yes, in the archive's reading. The Democratic Republic of Georgia issued stamps from 1919 until 1921, and the archive applies Georgia's exemption for official signs of the state to them. Wikimedia Commons names the Georgian Soviet republic as a predecessor state but not the earlier republic, so its listing does not settle the question.
- Is Georgian currency public domain too?
- Yes. Article 8 of Georgia's 1999 copyright law gives no copyright to official symbols of the state, including monetary symbols. Georgian currency is treated the same way as Georgian stamps under that article.