Briefs & filings
Forum on Open Access to Government Records, Inc. v. Dallas County Historical Foundation & NARA, No. 3:25-CV-2034-B (N.D. Tex.).
The Museum's motion to dismiss
Briefing on the copyright causes of action against the Sixth Floor Museum.
Doc. 19 · Filed 2025
The Museum's Brief in Support of Its Motion to Dismiss
Dallas County Historical Foundation (The Sixth Floor Museum)
The Museum argues there is no justiciable controversy over the Zapruder copyright and that the Forum's copyright causes of action fail as a matter of law.
Doc. 21 · Filed 2025
The Forum's Opposition to the Museum's Motion
Forum on Open Access to Government Records, Inc.
The Forum's response: the Museum's licensing refusals plus its FOIA objections create a live controversy, and waiver, abandonment, and fair use are adequately pleaded.
Doc. 24 · Filed 2025
The Museum's Reply
Dallas County Historical Foundation (The Sixth Floor Museum)
Reply in support of dismissal, pressing the absence of any threatened enforcement and the sufficiency of the copyright's protection.
NARA's motion to dismiss
Briefing on FOIA jurisdiction and the electronic reading room.
Doc. 28 · Filed 2025
NARA's Motion to Dismiss
National Archives and Records Administration
NARA argues the Court lacks jurisdiction to order publication to the electronic reading room and that the 1996 flush language excludes pre-1996 records.
Doc. 30 · Filed 2025
The Forum's Opposition to NARA
Forum on Open Access to Government Records, Inc.
The Forum's response: courts may enjoin agencies to publish frequently requested records, and the 2016 amendment's categorical opening line governs.
Doc. 31 · Filed 2025
NARA's Reply
National Archives and Records Administration
NARA's reply in support of dismissal, pressing the D.C. Circuit's narrower view of FOIA's remedial scope.
The 2024 FOIA suit and Ninth Circuit appeal
The earlier case against the National Archives, now on appeal.
Doc. 49 · 2025
Order Granting Summary Judgment (2024 FOIA suit)
U.S. District Court
The decision in the earlier FOIA suit against the National Archives, granting summary judgment because the requester had not obtained copyright permission.
Doc. 1 · Filed on appeal
Appellant's Opening Brief (Ninth Circuit)
Appellant
The opening brief on appeal to the Ninth Circuit challenging the summary judgment ruling in the 2024 FOIA suit.
The October 2026 agreements
The Museum–NARA license and the Museum's covenant not to sue.
Doc. 49, App. 9–12 · Effective Oct. 1, 2026
Non-Exclusive Copyright License Agreement (Museum–NARA)
The Sixth Floor Museum & the National Archives
The superseding agreement licensing NARA to post a non-commercial-grade copy of the Zapruder film online, for research only, with the Museum's copyright notice and content conditions.
Doc. 49, App. 5–7 · Effective Aug. 1, 2026 (signed Oct. 2, 2026)
The Museum's Covenant Not to Sue
The Sixth Floor Museum
The Museum's irrevocable promise not to sue the Forum over SCAM and its websites, and withdrawal of its objection to the Forum obtaining a research copy from NARA.
NARA Contract NAMA-01-C-0007 · Mar. 28, 2002 (work performed Feb. 25, 2002)
Monaco/Interformat Inspection & Duplication Report (2002)
Monaco/Interformat for the National Archives
The contractor's report on inspecting and duplicating the camera original (541-ARRP-1) and the two Secret Service copies (87.010), with its certification of every copy made.
ARRB · 04/24/97
Statement of Policy and Intent with Regard to the Zapruder Film
Assassination Records Review Board
Resolves that the Zapruder film is an assassination record, that the best available copy shall become available to the public at the lowest reasonable price, and that the film be transferred to NARA on Aug. 1, 1998.
ARRB · 04/24/97
News Release: Review Board Initiates Steps in Making Zapruder Film a Permanent Public Record
Assassination Records Review Board
Announces the 5–0 vote on the Statement of Policy and Intent. Chairman Tunheim: the public should have "free and unfettered access to this film at a reasonable cost."
The Forum's pleadings
The complaint as amended, adding the frame-by-frame causes of action.
Doc. 37 · Filed Aug. 19, 2026
First Amended Complaint
Forum on Open Access to Government Records, Inc.
The complaint as amended after the Court's ruling, adding causes of action — including that the Museum's registration reaches the film, not the frames previously published and registered by LIFE.
Doc. 59 · Filed Oct. 26, 2026
Opposition to the Museum's Motion to Dismiss the First Amended Complaint
Forum on Open Access to Government Records, Inc.
The Forum's response: the covenant and license do not end the controversy over the Forum's existing and future publications, and the Museum still stands between the Forum and the National Archives.
Proposed · To be filed with a motion for leave
Supplemental Complaint (proposed)
Forum on Open Access to Government Records, Inc.
Adds claims against NARA over the Oct. 1, 2026 license and the "Fully Restricted" designation — APA/JFK Act, First Amendment, and excess-of-authority — and supplements the FOIA claim.
The Court's ruling
One order resolving both motions.