As you probably know by now, the MPAA has decided to ban movie screeners being sent to Academy members. Movie studios have been sending screener copies of movies they want to push for Academy Award consideration to the members of the Academy for years. It's the best way they have to make sure that all of the movies eligible for the awards (studio or independant) are seen by the right people.
Suddenly, about three weeks ago, the MPAA decided that this practice only adds to (or possibly worsens) the rampant act of movie piracy and must be stopped immediately. The major studios agree with the ban because they claim that they are hit hardest by piracy (more). The independant studios/film makers say that sending screeners to Academy members is the only guarantee they have that their movie will be seen/considered, so banning screeners will lead to their movies never being considered for nomination (more). This is where the issue has stood for the past two weeks.
Now, completely out of the blue, in a stand against the MPAA and a big "up yours" to the major studios, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association has decided to cancel their awards ceremony this year in protest of the screener ban. Read here for more.
So what do you think? Do screeners aid in movie piracy or are they important for ensuring that indepedant films get their fair shot? Is their maybe a deeper motivation for the MPAA wanting to ban screeners? What gives?
Posted by Zip at October 20, 2003 11:07 AM