Are Swiss stamps public domain?

Not on the date alone. Swiss stamps are protected by copyright, and in the archive's reading each one becomes public domain 70 years after the end of the year its last designer or engraver died. A Swiss stamp with no credited designer is treated as protected.

Are stamps means of payment under Swiss copyright law?

No, in the prevailing view among Swiss legal commentators. One commentary notes that stamps are not legal tender and nobody has to accept them, so the copyright act's exemption for means of payment does not cover them. Swiss stamps therefore keep their copyright.

Why are Swiss banknotes free but stamps are not?

Because Swiss banknotes are means of payment and stamps, in the prevailing legal view, are not. Article 5 of Switzerland's 1992 copyright act exempts means of payment, which covers currency, but stamps fall under no exemption. Swiss stamps stay protected until 70 years after the end of the year their last designer or engraver died.

What about Swiss stamps with no known designer?

The archive treats them as protected. Wikimedia Commons' general rules give a work by an unknown author 70 years from publication, but its note on stamps does not address uncredited stamps, and the archive does not yet apply that term. A Swiss stamp with no credited designer therefore counts as copyrighted in the archive's reading.

Switzerland

Are Switzerland stamps public domain?

Swiss stamps have no public domain cutoff by date: Wikimedia Commons says they are protected by copyright. Swiss law exempts means of payment, but Commons reports that the prevailing legal view is that stamps are not among them. In the archive's reading, a stamp is free 70 years after the end of the year its last designer or engraver died.

Why no fixed date?

Article 5 of the Federal Act on Copyright and Related Rights of October 9, 1992 lists material that copyright does not protect, among it official enactments, decisions of authorities and means of payment.¹ Commons reports that the prevailing view among legal commentators is that stamps are not means of payment and fall under no other exemption.¹ One commentary Commons cites says stamps are not official means of payment because they are not legal tender and nobody has to accept them; another notes that an exclusion from protection in the 1987 preliminary draft was struck from the Federal Council's bill.¹ Swiss currency, by contrast, is free on Commons under the same article.¹ Commons gives the general term as 70 years after the author's death, counted from December 31 of the year of death.¹ For a work whose author is unknown, Commons' general rules give 70 years from publication; its note on stamps does not address uncredited stamps.¹ The archive does not yet apply that term: in its reading, a Swiss stamp with no credited designer is treated as protected.

References 1

↑ Copyright rules for Switzerland. Wikimedia Commons, October 7, 2026. Accessed October 8, 2026.

Copyright law in Switzerland

Switzerland’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
Before 1993: 50 years after the designer’s death.
Older stamps: A stamp already in the public domain stayed there when the term was extended.
Note: Swiss stamps are not a means of payment, so they remain protected by copyright.

Historical issuers read under this law: Basel, Geneva, Zürich.

Read from Wikimedia Commons, copyright rules for Switzerland, revision 1284071233, checked October 8, 2026

The rule by period

PeriodRule

Any dateProtected until 70 years after the death of the last designer or engraver.In the archive's reading, a stamp is protected until 70 years after the end of the year its last designer or engraver died, and a stamp with no credited designer is treated as protected, without the 70-years-from-publication term Commons' general rules give works by unknown authors.

Sources Commons cites 1

W Egloff in D Barrelet and W Egloff (eds), Das neue Urheberrecht (4th edn, Stämpfli 2020) art 5 para 5 («da sie keine Zahlungsmittel sind und auch sonst unter keine Ausnahmebestimmung fallen»); R von Büren and MA Meer in R von Büren and L David (eds), Urheberrecht und verwandte Schutzrechte (3rd edn, Helbing & Lichtenhahn 2014) para 379 («es handelt sich bei ihnen nämlich nicht um offizielle Zahlungsmittel, da sie keinen gesetzlichen Kurs haben und nicht in Zahlung genommen werden müssen»); I Cherpillod in BK Müller and R Oertli (eds), Urheberrechtsgesetz (URG) (2nd edn, Stämpfli 2012) art 5 para 3; RM Hilty, Urheberrecht (2nd edn, Stämpfli 2020) para 254 («zumal der im Vorentwurf von 1987 enthaltene Schutzausschluss im Rahmen des bundesrätlichen Entwurfs wieder gestrichen worden war»); P Gilliéron in J de Werra and P Gilliéron (eds), Propriété intellectuelle (Helbing & Lichtenhahn 2013) art 5 LDA para 9; M Rehbinder, L Haas, and K-P Uhlig (eds), URG (4th edn, Orell Füssli 2022) art 5 para 7 (departing from the view expressed in the previous edition).

Switzerland stamps and the public domain: questions

Are Swiss stamps public domain?: Not on the date alone. Swiss stamps are protected by copyright, and in the archive's reading each one becomes public domain 70 years after the end of the year its last designer or engraver died. A Swiss stamp with no credited designer is treated as protected.
Are stamps means of payment under Swiss copyright law?: No, in the prevailing view among Swiss legal commentators. One commentary notes that stamps are not legal tender and nobody has to accept them, so the copyright act's exemption for means of payment does not cover them. Swiss stamps therefore keep their copyright.
Why are Swiss banknotes free but stamps are not?: Because Swiss banknotes are means of payment and stamps, in the prevailing legal view, are not. Article 5 of Switzerland's 1992 copyright act exempts means of payment, which covers currency, but stamps fall under no exemption. Swiss stamps stay protected until 70 years after the end of the year their last designer or engraver died.
What about Swiss stamps with no known designer?: The archive treats them as protected. Wikimedia Commons' general rules give a work by an unknown author 70 years from publication, but its note on stamps does not address uncredited stamps, and the archive does not yet apply that term. A Swiss stamp with no credited designer therefore counts as copyrighted in the archive's reading.