(Common Law Copyright Infringement / Unfair Competition)   (Unjust Enrichment)   15.  In the 1950s and 1960s, Arthur Sheridan owned and operated several recording  companies specializing in recording and selling doo-wop, jazz, and rhythm and blues music.  These music labels produced recordings by some of the most influential musicians of the era,  including the Flamingos (inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001), Little Walter  (inducted to the Blues Hall of Fame in 1986 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2008), and  the Moonglows (inducted to the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 1999 and the Rock and Roll Hall  of Fame in 2000).   17.  Barbara Sheridan owns the pre-1972 master sound recording of “Golden  Teardrops” by the Flamingos, critically acclaimed when it was recorded and still regarded as a  classic.   18.  Arthur and Barbara Sheridan own the intellectual property and contract rights  associated with the recordings. These rights include, without limitation, the right to control the  use and distribution of the recording, the right to promote the recordings, and the right to receive  royalty payments from the exploitation of the master recordings described above.    19.  Arthur and Barbara Sheridan continue to market the Pre-1972 Recordings that  they own. In particular, Arthur and Barbara Sheridan continue to receive revenue from licenses  granted to third parties to publicly perform the recordings.  B.  iHeartMedia Exploits Plaintiffs’ and Class Members’ Rights Without  Permission or Compensation  1) State Law Protection for Pre-1972 Recordings   21.  The statutory licensing scheme provided by 17 U.S.C. §§ 112(e), 114(d)(2), and  114(f) does not extend to Pre-1972 Recordings. Thus, SoundExchange’s authority does not  extend to the collection and distribution of royalty payments to the owners of copyrights in Pre- 1972 Recordings. See 17 U.S.C. § 114(g)(2) (requiring SoundExchange to distribute royalties to  holders of federal copyrights). The existence of SoundExchange does not alter the issues  presented in this action because SoundExchange has no authority to negotiate or collect royalties  on behalf of copyright holders for the reproduction and public performance of Pre-1972  Recordings.   22.  The Copyright Act specifically provides that Pre-1972 Recordings will not be  subject to federal copyright. 17 U.S.C. § 301(c). But nothing in the Copyright Act permits  entities such as iHeartMedia to make use of Pre-1972 Recordings without compensation. Indeed,  the Copyright Act specifically left states free to regulate the use of works of authorship that it  chose not to render subject to federal law. 17 U.S.C. § 301(b)(1).   23.  New Jersey common law protects Pre-1972 Recordings from being copied,  distributed, or otherwise exploited without license or authorization.   2) iHeartMedia   25.  iHeartMedia offers its internet radio services to the public on a non-subscription  basis. Users can access iHeartMedia’s internet radio services on a variety of internet platforms  including computers, digital media devices, tablets, video game consoles, and smartphones.    26.  Users of iHeartMedia’s customizable stations hear advertisements at periodic  intervals between tracks, and may skip only six tracks per station per hour (and fifteen tracks  total per day) across all stations. Skipping a track often results in hearing an advertisement.    27.  iHeartRadio’s numerous internet and terrestrial radio broadcasts have included,  and continue to include, countless public peformances of Pre-1972 Recordings, all of which have  been and continue to be made without any permission from or payment to the owners of the  copyright in the Recordings.    28.  Moreover, in the course of broadcasting internet and terrestrial radio services that  feature Pre-1972 Recordings, iHeartRadio reproduces those Recordings multiple times for  purposes of archiving, advertising, buffering, streaming, and otherwise maintaining, accessing,  and performing the Recordings.   29.  iHeartRadio’s internet radio service is delivered by way of web interfaces that  promote iHeartMedia’s services or are designed to attract users to iHeartMedia’s services.   30.  iHeartMedia also sells the right to advertise to users on its stations, websites, and  applications.    32.  Sales of advertisements displayed or broadcast in the course of iHeartMedia’s  internet and terrestrial radio services generate millions of dollars of revenue for iHeartMedia  each year.    33.  iHeartMedia regularly broadcasts to New Jersey listeners the “Golden Teardrops”  recording and other recordings listed above, as well as many other Pre-1972 Recordings, and has  done so repeatedly for the last several years.   34.  iHeartMedia has not licensed Pre-1972 Recordings from their copyright owners.   35.  Thus, without obtaining authorization or rendering compensation, iHeartMedia  has copied and publicly performed Pre-1972 Recordings in violation of Plaintiffs’ exclusive  rights to perform the Recordings.    36.  iHeartMedia has derived significant benefits, including millions of dollars of  revenue, from unlawfully exploiting these rights.  V.  37.  Plaintiffs Arthur and Barbara Sheridan bring this action under Federal Rule of  Civil Procedure 23(b)(2) and (b)(3) on their own behalf and on behalf of the following class of  plaintiffs (the “Misappropriation Class”):  All owners of reproduction and public performance rights in Pre- 1972 Recordings that have been publicly performed, copied, or  otherwise exploited by iHeartRadio, without a license or other  authorization, in the marketing, sale, and provision of internet and  terrestrial radio services.   39.  There are common questions of law and fact specific to the Misappropriation  Class that predominate over any questions affecting individual members, including:  a) Whether iHeartMedia copies, publicly performs, or otherwise exploits Pre-1972  Recordings in its internet and terrestrial radio services without authorization or  permission;  b) Whether such uses are unlawful;  c) Whether iHeartMedia’s conduct constitutes misappropriation;  d) Whether iHeartMedia’s conduct constitutes unfair competition;  e) Whether class members have been damaged by iHeartMedia’s conduct, and the  amount of such damages;  f) Whether punitive damages are appropriate and the amount of such damages;  g) Whether an order enjoining future unauthorized use of Pre-1972 Recordings in  internet and terrestrial radio services is appropriate and on what terms;  h) Whether iHeartMedia has been unjustly enriched; and  i) Whether iHeartMedia should disgorge its unlawful profits, and the amount of  such profits.   40.  Plaintiffs’ claims are typical of the Misappropriation Class’s claims, as they arise  out of the same course of conduct and the same legal theories as the rest of the Misappropriation  Class, and Plaintiffs challenge the practices and course of conduct engaged in by iHeartMedia  with respect to the Misappropriation Class as a whole.   41.  Excluded from the class are iHeartMedia, its employees, co-conspirators, officers,  directors, legal representatives, heirs, successors, and wholly or partly owned subsidiaries or  affiliated companies; class counsel and their employees; and the judicial officers and associated  court staff assigned to this case.    43.  iHeartMedia has acted or refused to act on grounds that apply generally to the  class, and final injunctive relief or corresponding declaratory relief is appropriate respecting the  class as a whole. A class action is also appropriate because iHeartMedia has acted and refused to  take steps that are, upon information and belief, generally applicable to thousands of individuals,  thereby making injunctive relief appropriate with respect to the class as a whole.   44.  Questions of law or fact common to class members predominate over any  questions affecting only individual members. Resolution of this action on a class-wide basis is  superior to other available methods and is a fair and efficient adjudication of the controversy  because in the context of this litigation most individual class members cannot justify the  commitment of the large financial resources to vigorously prosecute a lawsuit against  iHeartMedia. Separate actions by individual class members would also create a risk of  inconsistent or varying judgments, which could establish incompatible standards of conduct for  Defendant and substantially impede or impair the ability of class members to pursue their claims.  It is not anticipated that there would be difficulties in managing this case as a class action.   45.  Plaintiffs reserve the right to amend all class allegations as appropriate, and to  request any state law subclasses or other subclasses if necessary, upon completion of class- related discovery and motions for class certification.  47.  The Pre-1972 Recordings, when created, were the novel product of mental labor  embodied in material form; Plaintiffs and the Misappropriation Class thus have property rights in  them as recognized by New Jersey common law.    48.  By duplicating the Pre-1972 Recordings without authorization from Plaintiffs and  Class Members, and publicly performing those Recordings to its users for its own gain,  iHeartMedia misappropriated the Recordings and infringed Plaintiffs’ and Class Members’  property rights, whereby Plaintiffs and Class Members were damaged.   49.  As a result of iHeartMedia’s misappropriation of the Pre-1972 Recordings,  Plaintiffs and Class Members are entitled to an order enjoining iHeartMedia from continuing to  use those recordings without authorization and compensation, and to an order imposing a  constructive trust on any money acquired by means of iHeartMedia’s misappropriation,  including all gross receipts attributable to iHeartMedia’s misappropriation of the Pre-1972  Recordings.   51.  Plaintiffs incorporate by reference the allegations in the above paragraphs as if  fully set forth herein.   52.  At the expense of Plaintiffs and the Class, iHeartMedia has been and continues to  be unjustly enriched as a result of the unlawful and/or wrongful conduct alleged  herein. iHeartMedia has unjustly benefitted through the sale of advertisements in connection  with its internet and terrestrial radio services that use without authorization the Pre-1972  Recordings. iHeartMedia has therefore benefitted from the use of Pre-1972 Recordings, and it  would be unjust for iHeartMedia to retain that benefit without paying for it.   A.  Arthur and Barbara Sheridan  