There have recently been a couple of messages referring to a web page of
mathematical stamps. I am pleased about any attempts to publicize this
interesting area -- indeed, I have been doing a regular Stamp corner in
the Mathematical Intelligencer for the past 15 years, and am currently
preparing a book on the history of mathematics featuring almost 400
enlarged colour pictures of stamps (out of my collection of some 1500
mathematical stamps). There is even a society, called Philamath, for those
interested in mathematical philately; the secretary is Estelle Buccino,
5615 Glenwood Road, Bethesda, MD 20817, USA.
However, I am rather concerned about such attempts to put stamp images on
the Web, as there may well be serious copyright issues involved, and I
wouldn't want anyone to get prosecuted. The whole area of stamps copyright
is a difficult one -- are stamps common domain, or not? -- and each country
has its own rules (for example, concerning permissible sizes, including
defacing bars, etc); also, there may be problems with (eg) Disney images.
Although I have never heard of prosecutions in this area (at least for the
printed page), the area is a minefield (which is why I have so far refrained
from putting my collection on the Web). So, it is important to proceed with
caution.
If anyone has any definite information about this thorny area, I'd be very
grateful to hear it.
Robin J. Wilson