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The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has received a letter from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) suggesting the organization could be violating antitrust law if it attempts to exclude Netflix from the Oscars.
website Variety, warns the Academy’s chief executive Dawn Hudson that changes to Oscar eligibility rules could “suppress competition.”
Netflix’s production “Roma” won three statuettes from ten nominations at this year’s Academy awards but multiple Oscar-winning filmmaker Steven Spielberg — who is also a member of the Academy’s board of governors — is an outspoken critic of Netflix’s inclusion in the glitzy ceremony.
Spielberg has said Netflix films should be considered as made for T.V. productions and instead included in the annual Emmy award for the television industry. He is reportedly pushing others on the Academy’s board of governors to help force an eligibility change.
The letter-dated March 21 from the justice department’s antitrust chief, Makan Delrahim, warned that any eligibility requirements that did not have a “procompetitive justification” could “raise antitrust concerns”.
Delrahim then cited the Sherman Act to warn of a possible contravention.
“If the Academy adopts a new rule to exclude certain types of films, such as films distributed via online streaming services, from eligibility for the Oscars, and that exclusion tends to diminish the excluded films’ sales, that rule could therefore violate Section 1.”
By the time of publication, CNBC had received no response to a request for comment from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences or the DOJ.
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