Hollywood's anti-piracy ban on informal pre-Oscar screenings could lead to big-budget domination of the awards, semi-independent studios have warned.
The practice of posting DVDs to Academy members - banned this week by the Motion Picture Association of America - had been favoured by smaller firms, who are often squeezed out of available screening rooms.
Now the independent arms of studios such as Miramax, Paramount and United Artists fear the move will see a return to the days when the studios dominated the Oscars.
Magnolia Pictures president Eamon Bowles told Variety: "Ultimately this just centralises and consolidates the industry-town nature of the Oscars and puts us squarely back in the area of favouring the studios for the Oscars.
"I don't know if I'm cynical enough to say that's the main reason this is being done, but it certainly will be a by-product of it that I'm sure people are aware of."
Miramax was at the centre of speculation earlier this week that it would boycott the ban, but co-chairman Harvey Weinstein told Variety he would be complying. He said: "I will go along with the ban if it is for the reason of combatting piracy. Disney has assured me that this is the purpose."
Truly indie distributors, which include Newmarket, Lions Gate and Newmarket, will not be hit by the ban since they are not affiliated with any MPAA studios.
Independent films which could benefit include IFC's Whale Rider, about a young Maori girl who comes into conflict with her ageing grandfather, and Magnolia's shocking documentary Capturing the Friedmans, which chronicles a Jewish family's day-to-day lives as their father is charged with molesting children.
