Are old US stamps public domain?

According to Wikimedia Commons, yes for stamps issued before January 1, 1978, as works of the federal government.

Are US stamps after 1978 copyrighted?

Yes. Commons says the Postal Service holds copyright in stamp designs from January 1, 1978, and that written permission is needed. It gives no end date for that copyright.

Are 1970s Postal Service stamps public domain?

Those issued before January 1, 1978 are, according to Commons. The Postal Service replaced the Post Office Department in 1971, but the cutoff follows the 1978 copyright law.

Are Canal Zone stamps public domain?

Commons does not say. The archive applies the United States rule to the Canal Zone, but the status of its stamps is an open question.

United States

Are United States stamps public domain?

It depends on the date. According to Wikimedia Commons, United States stamps issued before January 1, 1978 are in the public domain as works of the federal government. Stamps issued from that date on are copyrighted by the United States Postal Service, and Commons says reproducing them needs written permission. The cutoff is fixed and does not move with the calendar.

Why 1978?

January 1, 1978 is the day the Copyright Act of 1976 took effect. Before it, stamps were works of the federal government, which have no copyright in the United States (Title 17, Section 105). Commons' page on American copyright says the 1976 law exempted work by Postal Service employees from that rule, and that the Postal Service has held exclusive copyright in every stamp design since 1978. Commons gives no date on which that copyright ends, and the archive does not calculate one.¹

Postal history and copyright

The first national stamps, of July 1, 1847, were engraved under contract by a New York firm, and private bank note companies printed the issues of 1869 through the 1880s until the Bureau of Engraving and Printing took over in 1894.² Commons' general rules say work by government contractors is not automatically a federal work, but its stamp rule calls every pre-1978 stamp public domain without raising that point.¹ The Post Office Department became the United States Postal Service on July 1, 1971, so Postal Service issues from mid-1971 through 1977 still fall before the cutoff.³ The Canal Zone issued its own stamps from 1904 to 1978, beginning with Panamanian stamps overprinted "CANAL ZONE".⁴ Commons has no note on them; the archive applies the American rule, and the status of the zone's 1978 issues and of the Panamanian designs under its overprints is open.

References 4

↑ Copyright rules by territory: United States. Wikimedia Commons, October 2, 2026. Accessed October 7, 2026.
↑ Postage stamps and postal history of the United States. Wikipedia. Accessed October 7, 2026.
↑ United States Postal Service. Wikidata. Accessed October 7, 2026.
↑ Postage stamps and postal history of the Canal Zone. Wikipedia. Accessed October 7, 2026.

Copyright law in the United States

The United States’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: 95 years from issue
Work of the state: Not protected
Note: Federal works are public domain, but stamp designs issued by the US Postal Service from 1978 on are copyrighted. Older US stamps are public domain.

Historical issuers read under this law: American, British and Russian Zones, Anglo-American Zones (Civil Government), Anglo-American Zones (Military Government), Confederate States of America, Ryukyu Islands, Shanghai (US Postal Agency), Trieste (AMG), US Post Offices in Japan, Venezia Giulia and Istria (AMG).

Read from Wikimedia Commons, copyright rules for the United States, revision 1284656550, checked October 8, 2026

The rule by period

PeriodRule

Before January 1, 1978Public domain: a work of the federal government issued before 1978.Commons tags these stamps PD-USGov, its tag for work made by federal employees in their official duties.

From January 1, 1978Copyrighted: copyright of the United States Postal Service since 1978.The Postal Service owns these designs; Commons says written permission is needed to reproduce them.

The same rule covers Canal Zone, American Samoa, Guam, Hawaii, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, United States Minor Outlying Islands, United States Virgin Islands.

Sources Commons cites 2

United States stamps and the public domain: questions

Are old US stamps public domain?: According to Wikimedia Commons, yes for stamps issued before January 1, 1978, as works of the federal government.
Are US stamps after 1978 copyrighted?: Yes. Commons says the Postal Service holds copyright in stamp designs from January 1, 1978, and that written permission is needed. It gives no end date for that copyright.
Are 1970s Postal Service stamps public domain?: Those issued before January 1, 1978 are, according to Commons. The Postal Service replaced the Post Office Department in 1971, but the cutoff follows the 1978 copyright law.
Are Canal Zone stamps public domain?: Commons does not say. The archive applies the United States rule to the Canal Zone, but the status of its stamps is an open question.