The new rules will be in affect from the 85th Academy Awards and the biggest change is in the makeup category, which will now be called the "Makeup and Hairstyling Award."
With the newly approved category, hairstylists are now officially eligible for the Oscar race, said The Hollywood Reporter.
Responding to the new rule, famed hairstylist Ted Gibson said, "It's time for hairdressers to be recognized. We need to bring awareness to the Academy. I am so excited that the Academy is finally recognizing hairdressers in films.
"It's a great start. People have gone to the Academy for decades to try to get hair on the ballot and they haven't responded at all. I feel proud to be part of the movement to make a change."
In visual effects, the new rule guarantees that nominees will be chosen from a pool of 10 films chosen by the visual effects branch's executive committee. Previously, the committee could put forward from seven to 10 films.
In the original song category, the committee is now allowed to recommend a fourth songwriter for an individual song "in rare and extraordinary circumstances." Previously, the committee was only allowed to recommend two songwriters with a third writer as "an essentially equal contributor."
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Meanwhile, in foreign language category, the films must be submitted to the MPAA in 35mm or DCP (Digital Cinema Package), but are no longer required to be exhibited in those formats in their origin countries.
The 85th Academy Awards has been scheduled to take place on Sunday, February 24, 2013 at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.