Who Took This JFK Photo? Museum and Collector Clash in Copyright Case

The question over who took a photograph of President John F. Kennedy on the day he was assassinated has been at the center of a legal case.

The photograph in question shows a smiling President Kennedy and first lady Jacqueline Kennedy in their motorcade on the day of his assassination in Dallas on November 22, 1963. In the case, which was first reported by Plagiarism Today, private collector Cade Campbell filed a claim with the Copyright Claims Board (CCB), alleging that the Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza in Dallas was unlawfully displaying this photograph.

The museum is located on the sixth floor of the former Texas School Book Depository, where Lee Harvey Oswald fired the shots that killed President Kennedy from a window. The Sixth Floor Museum, which chronicles the life and death of JFK in its main exhibit, is one of the most prominent collectors of footage and videos from the day of the assassination.

According to the Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza, the photo at the center of the case was taken by Jack Titus as Kennedy’s motorcade drove down a local street. The photo was the fourth of a series of five images that Titus took. After Titus passed away, his widow donated these images to the museum and provided an oral history. The story behind the images is also corroborated by Reverend Richard Tullius, who was 17 years old at the time. Reverend Tullius was in the same group of photographers on the day that JFK was assassinated, and he donated a collection of slides he owned, including copies of the Titus series.

However, Plagiarism Today reports that private collector Campbell, who brought the claim before the CCB, argues that the image was taken by airport photographer Jack Jordan. Jordan is said to have been working at Dallas Love Field Airport at the time, where Air Force One and President Kennedy arrived for the visit.

Campbell says that following the death of Jack Jordan, the rights to the photograph passed to his son Ron Jordan, who reportedly tried to sell the image in 2013. Campbell first worked as an agent for Ron before later buying the photograph outright. During that deal, Ron is said to have signed an affidavit confirming that his father was employed at the airport and was the photographer of the image. Campbell then registered the photograph with the U.S. Copyright Office in January 2014.

When Campbell brought his claim before the CCB against the Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza, he was effectively asking the panel to decide the photograph’s location of origin and, by extension, its authorship. Both sides submitted opposing evidence about where the image was taken. The museum maintained that Campbell’s version did not align with other airport photographs, citing inconsistencies such as dry pavement and vehicles appearing that were not present in comparable shots. Campbell countered by pointing to what he said was extra visible pavement in the frame and also raised questions about the mental condition of Titus’ widow at the time she donated the material.

The case also revealed that Campbell has contacted multiple third parties demanding they cease using the image, though some have challenged his claim, suggesting it is not an original photograph but a later reproduction. That view is reinforced by the image being date-stamped April 1864, and by the fact that Campbell does not possess any of the original negatives.

In the end, the CCB found in favor of the museum. It concluded that, based on the greater weight of evidence, the photograph Campbell owned was a later copy of the Titus image, not the original. As such, the board dismissed the claim with prejudice.

“The result in this case hinges entirely on whether Campbell can satisfy his burden to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that he owns the copyright in the photograph in question,” the board writes in the final determination. “To meet that burden, his story of the origin and history of the photograph must be more credible than the Museum’s.”

Plagiarism Today notes that the chain of ownership in this case is uncertain and could be challenged, largely due to poor record-keeping. Many of the images from the day of JFK’s assassination were taken by amateur photographers who did not anticipate their work having any commercial value. Even if Campbell’s ownership claim were accepted, there could also be other licensed users with valid rights to authorize use of the image. However, the news outlet reports that a more significant obstacle would likely have been the statute of limitations. Under copyright law, a rights holder generally has up to three years from discovering an infringement to bring a claim. In this case, the image had been in widespread use long before Campbell acquired it and had appeared on the museum’s website since 2015, making it difficult to justify the delay in filing the complaint.

Image credits: All photos via court documents.