Custom Postage Legalities

What can you and can’t you put on custom postage? Okay, better say first off that I am not a lawyer and I may miss something, but these are some general guidelines.

If you stick with photos that you or someone in your family has taken, clearly you own the copyright to them and there should be no problem, provided there is nothing suggestive about them and provided that they are not pictures of celebrities, politicians, or other famous or infamous people. These categories are not allowed, no matter who took the photos.

You can’t use custom postage to further any sort of political agenda, whether it be an election, a piece of legislation, or your views on abortion, global warming, or other public issues. The US Postal Service says that the program is not intended to be a public forum.

(By the way, a great place to express your controversial opinions by printing on things is Cafepress, where the restrictions are much looser for tshirts, bumper stickers, mugs, and so on. )

Naturally, you can’t be promoting illegal activity or being deceptive or offensive. Everything to do with s e x is forbidden.

Some other categories that are not permitted include:

• Anything someone else could own the copyright to
• Imitations of regular stamps
• Anything that discriminates against other people on any basis
• Violence, guns, ammunition
• Gambling
• Alcoholic beverages
• Tobacco or related

So if you think of custom postage as something for celebrating the joys in your life, you’ll be on the right track.