Film of JFK Assassination Brings Family $16 Million
WASHINGTON — The U.S. government was ordered Tuesday to pay the heirs of amateur filmmaker Abraham Zapruder $16 million for seizing one of the nation's most macabre artifacts--the 26-second film capturing President John F. Kennedy's final moments.
An arbitration panel charged with determining the value of the film said that the figure might be on the low side. The arbiters said that they could imagine a wealthy collector paying twice that much for "the most complete recording of President Kennedy's assassination."
Lawyers for the Justice Department had said that the film was worth $1 million at most. But heirs to Zapruder, who died in 1970, sought $30 million as just compensation, extolling the film as a cultural and artistic "icon" worthy of comparison to da Vinci manuscripts, Van Gogh and Warhol paintings and Mark McGwire's 70th home run ball.
The arbiters hearing the case were effectively asked to place a price tag on the most enduring and tragic reminder of the sudden end to Kennedy's Camelot mystique.
The use of the images on the Zapruder film was never at issue. The copyright belongs to the family of the late Dallas dressmaker, which has earned hundreds of thousands of dollars over the years from videocassette sales, excerpts in such films as Oliver Stone's "JFK" and other uses.
But the government seized the original film from the family last year, declaring the fragile, six-foot-long strip of celluloid to be a critical record of the still-controversial Kennedy assassination that should be preserved at a National Archives complex in Maryland.
Unable to agree on a price, the Zapruders and the government let a private, three-member arbitration panel conduct hearings and make a final, binding determination. The Zapruders are expected to receive a check within 30 days for the $16 million, plus roughly $800,000 in interest.
Zapruders Are Relieved
The arbitration panel's 2-1 opinion became final two weeks ago but its release was delayed out of respect for the Kennedy family after the death of the president's son, John F. Kennedy Jr.
The Zapruders said that they were relieved by the decision, calling it a "fair and reasonable" award. The family also said that it wants to transfer copyright control over the film to a public institution.
