Robbie Williams' song "Forbidden Road" from his biopic Better Man has been disqualified from Oscar consideration, despite initially making the shortlist of 15 finalists for Best Original Song. The track, written by Williams, Freddy Wexler, and Sacha Skarbek, was recently nominated for a Golden Globe but won't compete for an Academy Award.

The disqualification stems from the song containing material from a previous composition not written specifically for the film. The Academy's rules require songs to be original works created directly for motion pictures. Reports indicate similarities between "Forbidden Road" and "I Got A Name," written by Charles Fox and Norman Gimbel for the 1973 film The Last American Hero.

The Academy's music branch, consisting of over 400 members, received notification explaining the decision. The similarity between the songs was brought to the branch executive committee's attention this week, with the final decision made on December 19.

Better Man remains in contention for the Visual Effects category, where it's one of ten finalists, notably for its portrayal of Williams as a chimpanzee.

This isn't the first time a song has been disqualified after making the Oscar shortlist. A similar situation occurred in 2013 with the film Alone Yet Not Alone, when its title song was removed from consideration due to improper lobbying by its composer. As with that instance, no replacement nomination will be made for "Forbidden Road."

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