Postage Archive
Postage Archive
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Liechtenstein

Copyright and fair use information for postage stamps

Are Liechtenstein stamps public domain?

Liechtenstein stamps are not public domain on the date of issue alone. Wikimedia Commons says they are likely protected by copyright, which lasts until 70 years after the author's death. The law exempts means of payment, but most Swiss commentaries do not count stamps as such, and Liechtenstein's law follows the Swiss text.

Why no fixed date?

Liechtenstein's Law of May 19, 1999, on Copyright and Neighboring Rights protects a work until 70 years after its author's death, counted to the end of the year.1 In the archive's reading, the date that decides a stamp's status is its designer's death, not its date of issue. Article 5 of the same law leaves means of payment unprotected. Commons notes that Liechtenstein's act is based on the Swiss text and that most Swiss commentaries do not treat stamps as means of payment, with one dissent, and it concludes that Liechtenstein stamps are likely protected.1 Commons says a Liechtenstein license tag was used for stamps in the past and now says it should not be used without evidence for the public domain claim.1 That tag's page now points only to three other tags.2

Postal history and copyright

Austrian stamps were valid in Liechtenstein from June 1, 1850, and the first stamps for Liechtenstein, issued on February 1, 1912, followed the Austrian standard and were printed in Vienna, according to Wikipedia.3 After the First World War the principality set up its own postal administration, issued its first definitives in July 1920, and entered a customs and monetary union with Switzerland the same year.3 Commons' note on stamps rests on the 1999 law and Swiss commentary. It does not discuss the 1912 issues made under Austrian administration, and the archive treats the law covering them as open. Commons also gives a term of 70 years from publication for works whose author is unknown, and its note on stamps does not say whether that term reaches an uncredited stamp.1

References 3
  1. ↑ Copyright rules for Liechtenstein. Wikimedia Commons, October 12, 2024. Accessed October 8, 2026.
  2. ↑ Wikimedia Commons license tag (Liechtenstein). Wikimedia Commons, March 17, 2019. Accessed October 8, 2026.
  3. ↑ Postage stamps and postal history of Liechtenstein. Wikipedia, August 28, 2025. Accessed October 8, 2026.

The rule by period

Any dateProtected until 70 years after the death of the last designer or engraver.In the archive's reading a stamp is free 70 years after the end of the year its last designer or engraver died, and a stamp with no recorded designer is treated as protected.
Sources Commons cites 8
  1. Cherpillod in Müller/Oertli, Urheberrechtsgesetz, 2nd ed. 2012, Art. 5 para. 3
  2. Barrelet/Egloff, Das neue Urheberrecht, 3rd ed. 2008, Art. 5 para. 5
  3. von Büren/Meer in von Büren/David, SIWR II/1, 3rd ed. 2014, para. 379
  4. Hilty, Urheberrecht, 2011, para. 130
  5. Dessemontet, Le droit d'auteur, 1999, para. 413
  6. Gilliéron in Werra/Gilliéron, Propriété intellectuelle, 2013, Art. 5 LDA para. 9
  7. von Büren, Urheberrecht und verwandte Schutzrechte, ZSR 1993, 193-222, 200
  8. disagreeing: Rehbinder/Viganò, URG, 3rd ed. 2008, Art. 5 para. 3 [included by analogy]

Liechtenstein stamps and the public domain: questions

Are Liechtenstein stamps public domain?
Not on the date alone. Liechtenstein stamps are likely protected by copyright, which lasts until 70 years after the end of the year the author died, so the answer depends on who designed the stamp and when that person died. In the archive's reading, a stamp with no recorded designer is treated as protected.
Are Liechtenstein stamps means of payment under copyright law?
Probably not. Liechtenstein's 1999 copyright law leaves means of payment unprotected, but most Swiss commentaries do not count stamps as means of payment, with one dissent. Liechtenstein's law is based on the Swiss text, so its stamps are likely protected by copyright.
Can Commons' Liechtenstein license tag be used for stamps?
No, not without evidence. Commons says its Liechtenstein license tag was used for stamps in the past but should not be used without evidence for the public domain claim. The tag's page now points only to three other tags.
What about a Liechtenstein stamp with no known designer?
The archive treats it as protected. Liechtenstein law gives 70 years from publication for works whose author is unknown, but Commons' note on stamps does not say whether that term reaches an uncredited stamp. A stamp with a recorded designer is free 70 years after the end of the year its last designer or engraver died.