In 1956, when Allied Artists studio refused to give Michael Wilson credit for Friendly Persuasion, the Guild issued a ruling boldly declaring that Wilson was indeed its author and therefore eligible for a WGA award, which Wilson promptly won. At the Oscars Friendly Persuasion was nominated without a name attached and lost. One year later Wilson and Carl Foreman were widely known to be the screenwriters of The Bridge on the River Kwai, but Columbia gave credit to novelist Pierre Boulle, the author of the original French novel upon which the script was based. Boulle, who didn't write in English, had admitted publicly that he didn't pen the movie, but this time the Guild handled the hubbub simply by refusing to nominate Kwai. Several weeks later, when Boulle won the Oscar, the studio dispatched actress Kim Novak to accept it.
Writers really know how to script a good acceptance speech, of course.
In 1998, Out of Sight's Scott Frank pulled off an upset over the scribes of A Civil Action, Gods and Monsters, Primary Colors, and A Simple Plan. Ceremony entertainment provided great lines, too. Hal Kanter did a memorable job emceeing in 1987 during the throes of a Guild strike against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. An actor can do it in just a few moments. Born on the Fourth of July won three top Golden Globes in 1989, in addition to the Directors Guild of America award, and it appeared to be an unstoppable juggernaut en route to the Oscars.