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15 August 2019CopyrightSaman Javed

Virgin America settles with safety video voice-over actress

Virgin America has settled a copyright infringement suit with voice-over actress Noemi Del Rio, after she accused the airline of using her voice without a licence.

On Monday August 12, the US District Court for the Central District of California said the parties had entered into a good faith settlement, which dismisses all future or present claims against Virgin.

Del Rio first took action against Virgin America, which is now Alaska Airlines, in February 2018 when she alleged that the airline had featured her voice in its flight safety video without compensation.

According to the complaint, in 2013 Del Rio met with a friend Todrick Hall and a number of Virgin America representatives at a recording studio in Los Angeles. She said that she was not aware prior to the meeting that Virgin America would be present.

At this meeting, Del Rio recorded a reading of the Federal Aviation Administration regulations for airline safety, as well as a rap that mimicked a young girl’s voice. This rap then later appeared in Virgin America’s flight safety video.

Del Rio said she “alone created the voice, melody, and rhythm for the rap heard in the video”.

“The most distinctive, original, and creative part of the entire video, the little girl’s rap, is sung solely by Del Rio,” the filing said.

According to the original complaint, no one informed Del Rio that her vocals would be used commercially or on the flight-safety video, adding that she only became aware of the use of her voice after the video went viral in 2013.

“The video went on to be mentioned across all media platforms including, CNN, E! News, Forbes, Mashable, and USA Today,” the filing said, adding that the video had over 12 million views on YouTube.

Rio said she never signed a contract with Virgin America, or gave permission to commercially broadcast and use her likeness or voice.

The actress said that in 2017, she contacted Virgin America and described how much of the video was hers, and requested fair compensation. Later that year, counsel at Virgin America alleged dismissed her request.

Del Rio said Virgin America claimed they had purchased the rights to her song by paying Hall. But, Rio said she has no contract with Hall and never assigned any rights to him, “thus, it would be impossible for Virgin America to license Del Rio’s copyrighted work from Hall”.

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