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Just when Michael Moore's detractors thought they'd caught a break and thwarted Fahrenheit 9/11's Oscar chances...

When Cuba's state-run television broadcast the gadfly filmmaker's Bush-bashing documentary last Thursday, it appeared Fahrenheit 9/11 would not be eligible for the Academy Awards. Pundits had figured the film to be a shoo-in for a Best Documentary Feature nomination.

But what had Moore's conservative critics cheering (even if it meant siding with Fidel Castro) was that under rules established recently by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, documentaries become ineligible for Oscar consideration if they are broadcast on television or the Internet within nine months of their theatrical release.

And then on Tuesday, Daily Variety ran a front-page story casting Moore's Oscar hopes in doubt.

But the Cuban Oscar Crisis has been averted.

That's because the film's U.S. distributors, Lions Gate Films, IFC Entertainment and the Fellowship Adventure Group (formed by Miramax honchos Harvey and Bob Weinstein after Walt Disney dumped the film)--said what was shown in Cuba was a bootleg copy of Fahrenheit and not endorsed by Moore or his backers.

"The film that was illegally shown on Cuban state-run TV was from an unauthorized, pirated copy," says a joint statement from distributors. "The distributors have confirmed with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences that they absolutely did not sanction the screening, and that it was shown from a pirated copy of the film."

Per Daily Variety, reps for overseas distributor Wild Bunch, which handles foreign sales in that country, also denied a television deal was struck with Cuba.

Given all that information, a rep for the Academy confirmed Tuesday that Moore's controversial polemic--which has grossed more than $100 million since its June 25 release and has become the most successful documentary ever--did not violate Oscar rules and remains eligible for Oscar glory.

"If it was pirated or stolen or unauthorized we would not blame the producer or distributor for that," Academy spokesman John Pavlik told E! Online.

Similar situations have arisen recently with pirated versions of such films as The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Mystic River and Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World turning up on the Web and on the black market in several countries before the films' official release there. But unlike documentaries, fiction films are not barred from eligibility if that happens, and are allowed to air on TV shortly after they hit theaters.

According to Pavlik, the stringent nine-month rule for documentaries was enacted by the Academy to help the genre gain a wider foothold with exhibitors.

"In the documentary case, a couple of years ago the committee was worried that they had been sent to TV so fast they had no chance of having a real theatrical exhibition life, so they added this rule so they could help encourage that," the spokesman added.

For documentaries, the deadline for submissions for this year's Oscar contest is Sept. 1, and the Academy typically receives about 60 submissions for that category.

Even still, speculation is rife within the Industry that Moore & Co., emboldened by Fahrenheit's success, are considering releasing the film as a pay-per-view special before the Nov. 2 election in hopes of influencing undecided voters.

Such a strategy would mean the distributors would have to give up competing in the documentary category and submit Fahrenheit for Best Picture consideration, making a calculated bet that Oscar voters would be willing to embrace it as the first documentary in Oscar history to vie for Tinseltown's top honor.

Indeed, in its round-up of early Oscar contenders, the award show site GoldDerby.com suggests that Fahreheit has so much support in Hollywood that the film could be in the running for both Best Picture and Best Director. Moore already owns an Oscar for Best Documentary for his 2002 anti-gun screed, Bowling for Columbine.

Distributors didn't comment Tuesday on the speculation. Moore has said that he wants Fahrenheit to be released on DVD by September.

And in case you're wondering what Cubans thought about Fahrenheit, CNN reports that the reaction was generally positive.

"It gives you an idea of the peril the world is in led by a man with such a small brain," one unidentified Cuban male told the cable news network through a translator.

However, others saw Moore's film as a celebration of freedom of expression.

"The film shows that the alternative media, in other words, independent media, is possible in the United States," said another Cuban who wished to remain anonymous.

Meanwhile, one country that won't be screening Fahrenheit is Kuwait. The government there has banned the film, claiming it bashes the Saudi royal family and is critical of America's invasion of Iraq, and thus violates a law that forbids insulting a friendly nation.