Only Oscars judges will receive preview tapes

A complete ban, introduced in September to reduce film piracy, was relaxed last month to allow specially coded preview copies to be sent to Oscar voters.

The studios insist the ban is necessary after films up for Oscars were copied or posted on the web last year.

Other film critics' groups say their exclusion this year is "unfair".

A spokesman from the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), which imposed the ban on behalf of the studios, said on Monday it would not be lifted despite president Jack Valenti's efforts to arrange a compromise last week.

Globes criticism

Critics of the ban say that it gives major studios an unfair advantage compared to independent films.

Smaller films are shown at far fewer cinemas and judges have less opportunity to see them in advance of the awards.

The MPAA has also come under attack from the organisers of the Golden Globes, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, who say their members should enjoy the same rights as Oscar judges.

The Globes are seen as the second biggest movie awards in the United States, after the Oscars.

Non-American movie awards such as the UK's Baftas have also warned their ceremonies are under threat.

Hundreds of leading stars and film-makers, including Sir Michael Caine and Francis Ford Coppola, have said the ban will effectively kill independent movie making.

Film-makers said independent movies such as 2001's Monster's Ball - which got two Oscar nominations and a best actress award for Halle Berry - would have no chance of being made if the ban were strictly enforced.