Members of the 1960s rock band The Turtles sued satellite radio giant Sirius XM, saying that the company has to pay the band for playing pre-1972 songs, even though those songs aren't protected by federal copyright.

The problem for Sirius is that many states have their own copyright laws that offer longer protection.

Sirius suffered a stinging setback last year when a New York federal judge ruled in The Turtles' favor. However, yesterday she ruled that before the company has to pay up, it will be allowed to take the issue up to the US Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit.

"There is in fact a difficult legal question about which reasonable minds can differ," wrote US District Judge Colleen McMahon in her order (PDF).

It will be the first time that the issue of pre-1972 copyrights has been taken up by an appeals court. In a similar case relying on California state copyright, a federal judge denied Sirius' request to go straight to an appeals court. If Sirius loses at the 2nd Circuit, it will have to work with copyright holders and "turn their attention to the thorny but ultimately soluble issue of how to license and compensate public performances of those recordings," McMahon wrote.

Streaming-music provider Pandora was sued on similar grounds last year, first by the RIAA and later by The Turtles.

An appeals ruling could resolve "issues of crucial significance that threaten to upset more than a half century of established practice in the broadcast and music industries," Sirius XM lawyer Daniel Petrocelli told The Hollywood Reporter, which first reported the story.

Lawyers for the band members responded, saying, "If the Second Circuit decides to take the case, we are confident that it will conclude that depriving artists of compensation for their work is not a practice that should be condoned."

The lawsuit was brought by Flo & Eddie Inc., a company owned by two former members of The Turtles. It was proposed as a class action, and the plaintiffs are seeking more than $100 million in damages. While the judge sided with the band members on the copyright issue, in January she declined to let the case proceed as a class action until additional discovery could take place.

In any case, yesterday's order means the lawsuit is stayed until the appeals court can weigh in.