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MPAA and Academy make a deal over Oscar screeners

23 October 2003 15:41 by Petteri "dRD" Pyyny | 6 comments

MPAA and Academy of Motion Picture Art have managed to reach a compromise over the MPAA's decision to ban Oscar screeners that has infuriated tons of industry insiders.

According to the deal, MPAA member studios wont send out any DVD screeners (screener is a DVD or VHS pre-release of a movie on DVD or VHS that hasn't been released for rental distribution yet), but will send out watermarked VHS screeners instead. These screeners will be sent out only to Academy members, i.e. for all of those eligible to vote for Oscars, but leaves out other award institutions, such as Golden Globes.

Each Academy member will have to sign a contract where he/she agrees that the screener wont be taken out of their homes and that the tape would be watermarked in a way that copies made from it could be tracked back to the individual who "leaked" the copy. If anyone gets caught of "leaking" a screener copy, they would get expelled from the Academy.

In addition to MPAA member companies, New Line Cinema and DreamWorks Pictures have agreed to arrangement. According to both, Academy and MPAA, this will be a one-year experiment to see what kind of effects it has on overall movie piracy.

Source: Hollywood Reporter

Permalink to this article

Actor fined over Oscar screener piracy (24 November 2004)

BAFTA voters to get secure DVD players (31 August 2004)

FBI investigates Oscar screener leak (19 January 2004)

Indie group wins screener ban battle (6 December 2003)

DVD screener ruling on Friday (4 December 2003)

MPAA sued over DVD screener ban (25 November 2003)

MPAA: No screeners for other than Academy members (17 November 2003)

LA Critics call off their awards in protest (20 October 2003)

Writers Guild opposes screener ban (14 October 2003)

MPAA's decision to ban Oscar screeners stands (10 October 2003)

MPAA bans Oscar screeners (1 October 2003)

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Discuss this article!
Nephilim (Moderator) 23 October 2003 20:15
How about NO EFFECT WHATSOEVER. This is just beyond stupid. I never killed anybody that didn't deserve it. [ + quote]
Ghostdog (Senior Member) 24 October 2003 8:14
At least they made a rational deal. [ + quote]
GrayArea (Member) 24 October 2003 11:00
The MPAA is threatening Academy members with expulsion (and lawsuits no doubt) if they "leak" copies of screeners. They have to sign a contract to that effect. I suppose one could consider that rational, but I feel it sends a very hostile message to the Academy. Kind of like the RIAA to it's customers. "You are our sworn enemy and will be treated as such". That's f**ked up. We mustn't lower ourselves to the level of those we loathe, lest we become loathsome ourselves. [ + quote]
Toiletman (Senior Member) 24 October 2003 14:53
This is a really good way to fight piracy, but for some people here, it's "too effective" ;) When you are on your deathbed, you will wonder, "Did I waste my life? Was it worth spending all that time on that?" Do not despair, no one has wasted their life. After all, you can only waste something if you throw it away. And you can't throw life away. [ + quote]
Ghostdog (Senior Member) 25 October 2003 9:37
Yeah I guess I didn�t formulate my reply very well. What I meant was that the deal is good considering what could have been. [ + quote]
vudoo (Member) 28 October 2003 15:04
Doesn't matter. The watermarks can be taken out by a tech savy individual so this is just another scare tactic. If the MPAA starts taking away rights of the corporate people they will find themself washed out. Voodoohippie [ + quote]