Academy relaxes rules for 'The Reader'

The Academy Of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences has relaxed its rules on Oscar nominees for Best Picture contender the The Reader.

Academy regulations state that only three producers may be credited per picture, but the makers of the Kate Winslet drama had submitted four names, reports Variety.

Organisers have agreed to allow four individuals to be credited for the first time in a decade because two of them - Anthony Minghella and Sydney Pollack - have died.

The rule was introduced after an army of producers invaded the stage following Shakespeare In Love's win in 1998, but the Academy revised the regulation in 2006 to exclude "rare and extraordinary circumstances".

"The committee determined that the circumstances of The Reader - in which the two original producers both died partway through the process - met its definition of 'rare and extraordinary' and that all four submitted individuals should be named as nominees," said a statement.

Minghella passed away last March after suffering a brain haemorrhage. Pollack died from cancer three months later.

Ben Hur's Sam Zimbalist is the only producer to posthumously win a Best Picture Oscar.

The 81st annual Academy Awards will be broadcast live from the Kodak Theatre on February 22.