Academy, Netflix Fight Now Includes Department Of Justice

The brewing battle between the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and streaming providers like Netflix, which options the likes of Apple promoter Steven Spielberg, took a wild activate Tuesday when the Department of Justice bought concerned. According to Variety, the DOJ has issued a warning to the Academy concerning a possible rule change that will restrict (or outright deny) the involvement of streamers like Netflix. Why? Because it “could raise antitrust concerns and violate competition law.”

In a letter addressed to Academy CEO Dawn Hudson obtained by Variety, Makan Delrahim, the chief of the DOJ’s Antitrust Division, defined the problem:

In the occasion that the Academy — an affiliation that features a number of opponents in its membership — establishes sure eligibility necessities for the Oscars that get rid of competitors with out procompetitive justification, such conduct might elevate antitrust considerations.

Citing the Sherman Act of 1890, Delrahim added that the present regulation “prohibits anticompetitive agreements among competitors,” together with the Academy’s proposed rule modifications underneath its present Board of Governors. In a press release commenting on the letter, an Academy spokesperson acknowledged its receipt and mentioned that the board would deal with it throughout their subsequent assembly on April 23rd. So till the outcomes of that gathering are launched (or leaked) to the general public, it will likely be tough to decipher what the DOJ, the Academy or Netflix’s subsequent steps are.

(Via Variety)