Vietnam
Are Vietnam stamps public domain?
No: no Vietnamese stamp is public domain on its date alone, in the archive's reading of Wikimedia Commons. Commons says the Ministry of Information and Communications owns the copyright in the official design of Vietnamese stamps, and copying it, or using images of issued stamps on commercial products, needs the ministry's written consent.
Why no cutoff?
Commons bases its note on Article 32 of Circular No. 25/2021/TT-BTTTT on postage stamps, dated December 29, 2021. It reports that the ministry owns the copyright in the official design, that copying part or all of the design needs the ministry's written consent, and that using images of issued stamps in commercial products needs the same consent.1 The note gives no term after which the ministry's ownership ends, so the archive has no date to compute. Vietnam's general term is the author's life plus 50 years, and works whose author remains unknown have 75 years from publication, but Commons does not apply either term to stamps.1
Postal history and copyright
French colonial stamps were introduced in Vietnam in 1862, and stamps made for Vietnam itself first appeared in 1945, when the Viet Minh government overprinted French Indochina stock. From 1954 North and South Vietnam issued separate stamps, and reunification in July 1976 brought one postal service.2 Commons keeps a separate license tag for government works of administrations the present state does not recognize for 1945 to 1976, such as the State of Vietnam and the Republic of Vietnam, and calls those works ineligible for copyright under modern Vietnamese law.3 The tag does not mention stamps, and Commons' stamp note does not say whether the ministry's ownership reaches issues of earlier or rival governments, so that question is open.
References 3
- ↑ Copyright rules for Vietnam. Wikimedia Commons, May 18, 2026. Accessed October 8, 2026.
- ↑ Postage stamps and postal history of Vietnam. Wikipedia, May 28, 2026. Accessed October 8, 2026.
- ↑ Wikimedia Commons license tag (Vietnam). Wikimedia Commons, September 3, 2023. Accessed October 8, 2026.
Copyright law in Vietnam
Vietnam’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
- 50 years after the designer’s death
- Anonymous
- 75 years from issue
- Before 2010
- 50 years after the designer’s death; 50 years from issue for an anonymous stamp.
- Older stamps
- A stamp already in the public domain stayed there when the term was extended.
- Note
- The Ministry of Information and Communications owns the copyright in stamp designs. An earlier 1986 decree gave 30 years after the designer's death.
Historical issuers read under this law: Annam (Indo-China), Annam and Tongking, Canton (Indo-Chinese Post Office), China (Indo-Chinese Post Offices), Cochin-China, Hoi-Hao (Indo-Chinese Post Office), Indo-China, Indo-China (Indian Forces), Mong-Tseu (Indo-Chinese Post Office), NFLSV (VietCong), North Vietnam, Pakhoi (Indo-Chinese Post Office), Sedang, South Vietnam, Tchongking (Indo - Chinese Post Office), Vietnam (French Colony), Yunnanfu (Indo-Chinese Post Office).
Read from Wikimedia Commons, copyright rules for Vietnam, revision 1216212144, checked October 8, 2026
The rule by period
Vietnam stamps and the public domain: questions
- Are Vietnamese stamps public domain?
- No. In the archive's reading, the Ministry of Information and Communications owns the copyright in the official design of Vietnamese stamps, and Commons gives no term after which that ownership ends. No Vietnamese stamp is public domain on its date alone.
- Can I use Vietnamese stamp images on products?
- Not without the ministry's written consent. Under Article 32 of Circular No. 25/2021/TT-BTTTT, dated December 29, 2021, using images of issued Vietnamese stamps in commercial products needs the written consent of the Ministry of Information and Communications. Copying part or all of the official stamp design needs the same consent.
- Are South Vietnam stamps public domain?
- The question is open. Commons keeps a license tag for government works of administrations the present state does not recognize for 1945 to 1976, such as the Republic of Vietnam, and calls those works ineligible for copyright, but the tag does not mention stamps. The stamp note also does not say whether the ministry's ownership reaches issues of earlier or rival governments.
- Will Vietnamese stamps enter the public domain?
- No date is known. Commons gives no term after which the ministry's ownership of the official design of Vietnamese stamps ends, so the archive has no date to compute. Vietnam's general terms, life plus 50 years or 75 years from publication for unknown authors, are not applied to stamps.