Animal Partisan v. Fed. Bureau of Investigation (D.D.C.) — denying requester’s fee motion; concluding that, while the requester “has established its eligibility for attorneys’ fees and costs [under the “catalyst” theory] . . . it has not demonstrated that it is entitled to such fees”; noting the “information obtained” by the requester “appears only marginally” likely to benefit the public because “many of the records sought were likely already in the public domain”; noting further that the FBI “was neither recalcitrant in its opposition nor obdurate in its behavior,” “promptly turned over the requested records” after the lawsuit was filed, and even conducted supplemental searches upon request; concluding, on the whole, that the agency “had a reasonable basis for initially withholding . . . under Exemption 7(A),” too.
FOIAConsciousness.com v. NARA (N.D. Cal.) -- holding that NARA did not violate FOIA by requiring plaintiff to submit proof of permission from a copyright holder—in this case, the Sixth Floor Museum in Dallas, Texas— before facilitating the copying of the copyrighted Zapruder film “because such copies, of which NARA facilitates the reproduction, are not “readily reproducible” in the absence of permission; further, reasoning that plaintiff “did not identify anything in FOIA or the caselaw to indicate that Congress intended a records designation to trump copyrights held by third parties,” and that plaintiff “also did not say why FOIA would require agencies to produce copies in a manner that would open them up to liability under the copyright laws.”
[RPM: For those you might be interested, FOIA Advisor’s own Ryan Mulvey filed an amicus brief on behalf of Americans for Prosperity Foundation in the Sixth Circuit last month, which addresses, in relevant part, the interaction of the FOIA and the Copyright Act, and concludes that copyright claims can’t be used as grounds for withholding.]
Summaries of all published opinions issued in 2025 are available here. Earlier opinions are available for 2024 and from 2015 to 2023.