Ukraine
Are Ukraine stamps public domain?
Yes: Ukrainian stamps are public domain at any date, in the archive's reading of Wikimedia Commons. Commons says Ukraine's 2001 postal law defines a postage stamp as a state sign, and the copyright law leaves state signs unprotected. Commons gives no term and no cutoff year for Ukrainian stamps.
Why any date?
Commons joins two laws. The Law of Ukraine On Postal Service of October 4, 2001 defines a postage stamp as a state sign, made in the way the law sets out, showing its face value and the state, and used to pay for the national operator's postal services. Commons then cites Article 10 of the Law on Copyright and Related Rights, which lists state symbols, signs of government bodies and banknotes among works it does not protect, and treats stamps as exempt.1 Article 10 belongs to the law of 1993. Commons records that Law No. 2811-IX of December 1, 2022 repealed it, and the English text of its license tag quotes an Article 8 instead.1 Its list of unprotected works names state signs, and the tag adds its own note that this item includes postage stamps.2
Postal history and copyright
The Ukrainian People's Republic issued a set of five stamps in 1918, designed by Anton Sereda and Heorhiy Narbut, and Russian stamps were overprinted with a trident that year. From 1923 Ukraine used Soviet stamps until the end of 1991, apart from World War II, and the first stamps of independent Ukraine appeared on March 1, 1992. In 1992 the post also overprinted Soviet stamps with tridents for use in Kyiv, Lviv and Chernihiv.3 Commons covers Soviet stamps in a separate note, which applies Russia's exemption for official signs.4 Its Ukrainian note says all Ukrainian stamps are in the public domain, rests that on the 2001 postal law, and does not mention the 1918 issues or the 1992 overprints.
References 4
- ↑ Copyright rules for Ukraine. Wikimedia Commons, October 2, 2026. Accessed October 8, 2026.
- ↑ Wikimedia Commons license tag (Ukraine). Wikimedia Commons, April 25, 2025. Accessed October 8, 2026.
- ↑ Postage stamps and postal history of Ukraine. Wikipedia, July 15, 2026. Accessed October 8, 2026.
- ↑ Copyright rules for the Soviet Union. Wikimedia Commons, December 24, 2025. Accessed October 8, 2026.
Copyright law in Ukraine
Ukraine’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 1973
- 15 years after the designer’s death.
- Before 1993
- 25 years after the designer’s death.
- Before 2001
- 50 years after the designer’s death.
- Older stamps
- A stamp already in the public domain stayed there when the term was extended.
- Note
- Ukrainian stamps are public domain as state signs. These terms come from the 1993 law, which a 2022 law repealed, and neither the 1973 nor the 1993 change revived expired works.
Historical issuers read under this law: Bessarabia, Bucovyna, Carpathian Ukraine, Crimea, Denikin Government, Moldavia, Moldo-Wallachia, Poland (German Occupation World War II), Transcarpathian Ukraine, Transnistria, Ukraine (German Occupation), Ukraine (pre-Soviet), Ukrainian Field Post, West Ukraine.
Read from Wikimedia Commons, copyright rules for Ukraine, revision 1282460260, checked October 8, 2026
The rule by period
Ukraine stamps and the public domain: questions
- Are Ukrainian stamps public domain?
- Yes. In the archive's reading, Ukrainian stamps are public domain at any date, because Ukraine's 2001 postal law defines a postage stamp as a state sign and Ukrainian copyright law leaves state signs unprotected. No term or cutoff year applies.
- Which law makes Ukrainian stamps public domain?
- Two laws together. Ukraine's postal law of October 4, 2001 defines a postage stamp as a state sign, and the copyright law leaves state signs unprotected. Wikimedia Commons cites Article 10 of the 1993 copyright law, which Law No. 2811-IX of 2022 repealed, and its license tag quotes an Article 8 instead.
- Are 1918 Ukrainian People's Republic stamps public domain?
- It is an open question. The Ukrainian People's Republic issued five stamps in 1918, designed by Anton Sereda and Heorhiy Narbut, and overprinted Russian stamps with a trident that year. Wikimedia Commons' note on Ukrainian stamps rests on the 2001 postal law and does not mention these issues.
- Can I use Ukrainian stamps commercially?
- No separate rule limits it. Ukrainian stamps are public domain at any date in the archive's reading, because the 2001 postal law makes a postage stamp a state sign, which Ukrainian copyright law does not protect. Wikimedia Commons' note on Ukrainian stamps sets no separate rule for commercial use.