Will Doja Cat's 'Vegas' which interpolates Elvis Presley's 'Hound Dog' qualify for an Oscar?
This one is a doozy... music copyright is a detailed matter itself, and when it comes to the rules of the Oscars, which is primarily movies, it gets a little confusing for the soundtrack nominations.
Does it meet the Academy's criteria?
The original “Hound Dog” songwriters Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller are co-credited as writers on “Vegas” along with Doja Cat. One rule makes it seem that Leiber and Stoller would be excluded from eligibility of nominations as they are partial contributors to the track. As well as they were not directly engaged in working on the motion picture. Leiber died in 2011 and Stoller was not a part of the process.
Additionally, a rule states that "there must be a clearly audible, intelligible, substantive rendition present in the film," but 'Elvis' uses less than 40 seconds of Doja Cat's vocals which were original and written for the film. There is more use of the interpolated phrase "you ain't nothin' but a..." than any musical element.
Again: Does it meet the Academy's criteria? This question is not in black-and-white... the decision-making process is complicated for judges. Right now, it's sitting at a maybe.
More can be found here.