LOS ANGELES — Movie studios partially reversed a ban Thursday on special video copies for awards groups, capitulating to widespread criticism that the move would make it harder for smaller films to win Oscars.
The new agreement will allow "screener" copies to be sent to the approximately 5,600 Academy Awards voters, but not the far larger pool that hands out lesser honors.
That means the Golden Globes, critics groups, the Screen Actors Guild, etc., will have to see films at theaters or at screenings arranged by studios. Oscar voters, meanwhile, can watch movies at home on copies sent by the films' distributors.
Trying to crack down on piracy, top studios and their trade group, the Motion Picture Association of America, pushed through an across-the-board ban on Sept. 30. MPAA President Jack Valenti said screener copies sent to awards voters had popped up for sale on eBay and had been used to make bootleg DVDs in Asia.
But the MPAA was forced to back down after complaints that the ban would make it harder for independent art-house films to compete against big studio movies come Oscar time.
"If the current system were in place five years ago, Hilary Swank wouldn't have her Oscar," for "Boys Don't Cry," said Tom O'Neil, author of the book "Movie Awards."
Under the agreement, Oscar voters will have to sign a pledge that they will not pass their screener copies on to anyone else. Voters could be expelled from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences if pirated movies were traced back to their screener copies. Studios will try the policy for a year, then decide if it needs adjustment. Only VHS copies will be distributed.
The Los Angeles critics group voted to protest by calling off its awards this year. Jean Oppenheimer, president, said the cancellation will stand unless the MPAA rescinds the entire screener ban.