Halle Berry won an Oscar for the independent Monster's Ball

Screen Daily reports studios and the US film industry propose an end to tapes being sent to judges to stop piracy.

But the proposals would not stop independent companies not tied to the studios sending out films to judges.

The fear is that voters only have a limited time to see movies at the cinema, so they could miss smaller films altogether.

The Motion Picture Association of America is said to be close to striking a deal with the major studios to end the practice of sending screening tapes out to voters, to stop them ending up on the black market.

The major studios all have their own independent arms including Fox Searchlight Pictures, United Artists and Warner Independent Pictures.

Some believe the proposals could spell the end of the non-blockbuster movie making an impact at the Academy Awards as the studios would be able to afford to fund big marketing campaigns.

Quality film

Dawn Hudson, executive director of the independent film-makers group IFP/Los Angeles, told Screen Daily of her concerns about the changes.

"This would be really harmful to the independent film community. In many ways the independent film nominations over the past few years have given the Academy the legitimacy of having quality film," she said.

"To rule against screeners means those Academy members may now not see a significant portion of this year's awards contenders.

"If screeners hadn't been sent out in recent years I don't think Halle Berry (Monster's Ball) and Pedro Almodovar (Talk to Her) for instance, would have been nominated."

Meanwhile, Oscar bosses said the decision not to send out tapes was not down to them but they always encouraged its voting members to watch films on the big screen rather than on tape.