The Robbie Williams song “Forbidden Road” from “Better Man,” which was nominated for best original song earlier this week, has been disqualified. diversity has learned.

Insiders report that the song “contains material from an existing song that was not written for the film” and is therefore ineligible for the Oscar.

Academy rules state that the lyrics and music of all songs submitted for the awards ceremony must be “original and written specifically for the film.”

“Forbidden Road” is officially credited to Williams, Freddy Wexler and Sacha Skarbek and is also currently nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Original Song.

The melody of “Forbidden Road” bears clear similarities to that of “I Got a Name,” the Charles Fox and Norman Gimbel song that Jim Croce performed in the 1973 film “The Last American Hero.” Coincidentally, Fox is one of three governors of the Academy’s music department.

This morning a letter went out to over 400 members of the music industry. The branch’s board reportedly only became aware of the similarities this week, and the decision to drop the song came yesterday afternoon.

The letter states: “This is a decision that both respects our rules and protects the distinctiveness of the Original Song and Score categories.”

Executives at Paramount, which released “Better Man,” could not immediately be reached for comment.

The move by the music industry executive committee means the original shortlist of songs will be cut to 14 tracks from the previous 15. Disqualifications like these generally do not result in a “replacement” song.

Music industry voters will choose from the remaining 14 titles when voting for Oscar nominations begins on January 8th.