The 2025 Oscar nominations have been postponed because of the wildfires ravaging California. Now, the date for one of the most anticipated annual events where the nominees will be revealed is set for Thursday morning.
In the meantime, however, one of the songs selected for this year’s Academy Awards has been excluded from the “Oscar for Best Original Song” category. The song in question is titled “Forbidden Road,” written by Sacha Skarbek and Freddy Wexler together with Robbie Williams, and performed by the latter for the film “Better Man,” produced by Paramount Pictures. Accused of being plagiarized, the song has been disqualified. It has deemed to be too similar to the melody of “I Got A Name” sung by Jim Croce for the 1973 film ’The Last American Hero,” starring Jeff Bridges.
In this case, the song is excluded not only on the grounds of plagiarism but also because as a result, it cannot fall under the designation of “original song,” a prerequisite for being nominated or winning an Oscar.
Ten years earlier, a similar thing happened regarding singer Adele’s song accused of plagiarism for her 2015 song “Million Years Ago.” Adele had won an Academy Award for Best Original Song with “Skyfall,” the soundtrack to the 2012 James Bond series film of the same name.
The accusations had been made by fans of the late Kurdish singer Ahmet Kaya. They in fact claimed that Adele’s song, an acoustic ballad inspired by personal episodes of the artist, was a copy of Kaya’s 1985 song titled “Acilara Tutunmak” (“Holding On to Pain”). The case has highlighted the broader issue of cultural appropriation and the need for proper credit and recognition for original works. As the legal proceedings continue, the outcome of this case could have implications for the music industry and the protection of intellectual property.
Currently, however, as the New York Post reports, in an injunction filed Friday in Rio de Janeiro’s Sixth Commercial Court, Brazilian Judge Victor Torres ordered that the track from Adele’s album “25” should be banned nationwide from streaming services and other global platforms. In addition, the order targets the Brazilian subsidiaries of Adele’s labels, Sony Music Entertainment and Universal Music, with an $8,000 fine “for act of noncompliance.”
