An Illinois couple who owned several recording companies specializing in doo-wop, jazz, and rhythm and blues have filed suit against the major satellite and Internet radio companies over their playing of pre-1972 songs. It's the third lawsuit that highlights how the patchwork of state copyright laws over older music is putting a drag on Internet radio—sound recordings made before 1972 aren't protected by federal copyright but are protected by many states.

On Monday, Arthur and Barbara Sheridan filed two lawsuits in New Jersey federal court: one against Pandora and Sirius XM (PDF) and another against iHeartMedia (PDF), the parent company of online music service iHeartRadio. Their lawsuits seek class action status, looking to represent owners of pre-1972 songs. The companies have derived "significant benefits," including "millions of dollars in annual revenue," by playing those songs without permission, the suit alleges.

"The Pre-1972 Recordings, when created, were the novel product of mental labor embodied in material form," the complaint against Sirius and Pandora states. "Plaintiffs and the Misappropriation Class thus have property rights in them as recognized by New Jersey common law."

Members of the 1960s band The Turtles were the first to sue Sirius over pre-1972 recordings, and the major labels soon followed with their own lawsuit. The RIAA case was settled earlier this year when Sirius agreed to pay $210 million. The Turtles also sued Pandora in 2014, and that case is ongoing. Pandora appealed to the 9th Circuit after a California federal judge refused to throw the case out.

However, copyright holders haven't been universally successful in these cases. A Florida judge ruled against The Turtles in June, saying that unlike California and New York, Florida didn't have common law that was clear enough to offer a separate state copyright. That outcome suggests the Sheridans' New Jersey case is hardly a slam dunk. The complaints don't point to a specific New Jersey copyright statute; they instead seek protection under the state's common law.

The Sheridans also filed a case in California against iHeartRadio earlier this year, but that case has been stayed pending the outcome of the Pandora appeal at the 9th Circuit.

In their lawsuits, the Sheridans say their music labels "produced recordings by some of the most influential musicians of the era," including the Flamingos, Little Walter, and the Moonglows. Barbara Sheridan owns the sound recording rights to "Golden Teardrops" by the Flamingos, a tune that's specifically cited in the complaints as being "regularly broadcast" to listeners of all three services.