Are Taiwanese stamps public domain?

Not by date alone. Taiwan's Intellectual Property Office treats a stamp with an original, creative design as an artwork, so most Taiwanese stamps are copyrighted, and only stamps that count as official documents are unprotected. In the archive's reading, a stamp becomes public domain at the end of the 50th year after its last designer or engraver died.

Are Japanese-era Taiwan stamps public domain?

It is an open question. Taiwan was part of the Japanese postal system from 1895 to 1945, and Wikimedia Commons' note on Taiwanese stamps does not say which law covers stamps from that period, or from the Qing and Republic of Formosa periods before it.

Taiwan

Are Taiwan stamps public domain?

Taiwanese stamps have no public domain cutoff by date: Wikimedia Commons, citing Taiwan's Intellectual Property Office, treats most of them as copyrighted artworks. Only stamps that count as official documents are unprotected. In the archive's reading, a stamp becomes public domain at the end of the 50th year after its last designer or engraver died.

Why no fixed date?

Commons says Article 9 of Taiwan's Copyright Act leaves official documents unprotected.¹ In emails of 2003 and 2017, the Taiwan Intellectual Property Office said a stamp whose design shows originality and creativity is an artwork, and Commons concludes that most stamps are protected for that reason.¹ Commons says old stamps leave copyright when their term ends and points to its table of terms.¹ For a work by a known author the term is life plus 50 years, ending on the last day of the year.¹ Commons gives 50 years from public release for anonymous works and works by a legal entity, and its table marks anonymous works published after 1951 as still protected under Taiwanese law or the URAA, whose date for Taiwan Commons gives as January 1, 2002.¹

Postal history and copyright

Stamps were first issued in Taiwan under the Qing province of the 1880s; English Wikipedia gives 1886, Chinese Wikipedia February 1888.²³ The short-lived Republic of Formosa issued stamps in 1895, and under Japanese rule from 1895 to 1945 the island was part of the Japanese postal system.² After Japan's surrender, local stamps were overprinted for the Republic of China and went on sale on November 4, 1945,² and the Chinese post moved to Taipei in 1949.³ Commons' note on stamps does not say which law covers issues from the Qing, Formosa or Japanese periods, so that question is open. Commons' table of terms does use a Japanese license tag for works whose authors died between 1895 and 1914.¹

References 3

↑ Copyright rules for Taiwan. Wikimedia Commons, July 26, 2026. Accessed October 8, 2026.
↑ Postage stamps and postal history of Taiwan. Wikipedia, February 5, 2026. Accessed October 8, 2026.
↑ 臺灣郵票. Wikipedia, November 27, 2024. Accessed October 8, 2026.

Copyright law in Taiwan

The archive has not been able to settle the details of Taiwan stamps specifically. Here is its reading of the copyright law of Taiwan, and how it reaches a general answer from it. A design answers Likely yes or Likely no only when every term that could apply agrees, and Unclear when they disagree.

Named designer: 50 years after the designer’s death
Anonymous: 50 years from issue
Note: Most stamps are copyrighted artworks, not official documents. Works authored by a legal entity last 50 years from public release.

Historical issuers read under this law: Chinese Republic, Japanese Taiwan (Formosa).

Read from Wikimedia Commons, copyright rules for Taiwan, revision 1252324746, checked October 8, 2026

The rule by period

PeriodRule

Any dateProtected until 50 years after the death of the last designer or engraver.In the archive's reading, a stamp is protected until the end of the 50th year after the death of its last designer or engraver.

Sources Commons cites 2

Taiwan stamps and the public domain: questions

Are Taiwanese stamps public domain?: Not by date alone. Taiwan's Intellectual Property Office treats a stamp with an original, creative design as an artwork, so most Taiwanese stamps are copyrighted, and only stamps that count as official documents are unprotected. In the archive's reading, a stamp becomes public domain at the end of the 50th year after its last designer or engraver died.
Are Taiwan stamps government works?: Mostly not. Article 9 of Taiwan's Copyright Act leaves official documents unprotected, but the Taiwan Intellectual Property Office said in 2003 and 2017 that a stamp whose design shows originality and creativity is an artwork. Most Taiwanese stamps are therefore protected, in the archive's reading until the end of the 50th year after the last designer or engraver died.
Are Japanese-era Taiwan stamps public domain?: It is an open question. Taiwan was part of the Japanese postal system from 1895 to 1945, and Wikimedia Commons' note on Taiwanese stamps does not say which law covers stamps from that period, or from the Qing and Republic of Formosa periods before it.