Zapruder used a Bell & Howell Zoomatic camera loaded with Kodachrome II. He filmed the limousine from the turn onto Elm until it went under the railroad bridge; Kennedy was hit in the head almost directly in front of him. The film and three copies were processed in Dallas that afternoon, and Secret Service agent Forrest Sorrels sent two copies to Washington. [1]
On 23 November Zapruder sold the film and a copy to Life, with the provision that frame 313, showing the fatal head wound, not be published. Life printed frames in black and white on 29 November and later in color. By then some frames had been damaged. [1]
Most Americans never saw it move until March 1975, when ABC’s Good Night America, hosted by Geraldo Rivera, aired a bootleg copy. Time Inc. sold the film back to the Zapruder family soon after. Oliver Stone paid $85,000 to use it in JFK in 1991. A 1992 law made it an assassination record; the government took it and, in 1999, paid the estate $16 million. The estate gave the copyright to the Sixth Floor Museum, which controls the rights. [1][2]
What we can’t tell you. Some details of early copies and their chain of custody are disputed by researchers.
Daniel Eagan’s Film Registry essay: Life buys the film on 23 November 1963, sells it back to the Zapruders in 1975, the 1992 law makes it an assassination record, the government pays the estate $16 million in 1999, and the estate gives the copyright to the Sixth Floor Museum.
Some critics argue the film was altered within days, at a CIA photo laboratory, to remove frames, paint over a blow-out wound at the back of the head, or change the limousine’s movement. They point to Parkland descriptions of a rear head wound and to witnesses who said the car stopped. [1][2]
For the Review Board, Kodak film-structure expert Roland Zavada examined the camera-original, a Secret Service first-generation copy and other materials, and studied whether the claimed anomalies could be explained by the camera’s optics and the film itself. [1][2]
No document shows the film was altered, and no one who handled it has said it was. [2][3]
What we can’t tell you. Zavada’s full findings are in a long technical report; this file does not summarize its every conclusion.
Daniel Eagan’s Film Registry essay: Life buys the film on 23 November 1963, sells it back to the Zapruders in 1975, the 1992 law makes it an assassination record, the government pays the estate $16 million in 1999, and the estate gives the copyright to the Sixth Floor Museum.
In 2025 a group called the Forum on Open Access to Government Records sued the Dallas County Historical Foundation, which runs the Sixth Floor Museum, and the National Archives. One claim asked the court to require the Archives to post the Zapruder frames in its online reading room. [1][2]
The Archives said the online-publication rule covers only records an agency created after 1 November 1996. On 5 August 2026 Senior Judge Jane Boyle of the Northern District of Texas disagreed and let that claim proceed. [2]
What we can’t tell you. The Justia opinion was confirmed through search and the Justice Department’s summary.
The government’s own case summary of the August 2026 ruling.
WHAT PEOPLE SAY ABOUT THIS FILE
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4 claims people make about this file, each rated documented, partly true, disputed, unproven or false. Think a rating is wrong? Use Dispute or Support, or join the Discussion.
DOCUMENTED The shots, the rifle & the bullet
“The government paid millions for the Zapruder film.”
The government took it under the 1992 law and in 1999 paid the estate $16 million.
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