Via: Wired

NEW YORK (Ben Sheffner for Billboard/Reuters) — Almost a decade after the major labels launched their legal assault on Napster, courts are still writing the rules of the road for the music business’s digital future.

Companies can’t set out to build a business based on their users’ infringement of copyright, courts had already ruled. But the precise meaning of that dictate remains in doubt. What steps must sites take to combat infringement? What are the proper penalties for those who infringe? This year, courts inched toward resolution of these questions, giving labels, publishers and artists a bit more certainty as they decide whom to work with and whom to sue.

Below are 2009’s top five cases that will shape the future of the music business.

UMG Recordings v. Veoh Networks

Capitol Records v. Thomas-Rasset; Sony BMG Music Entertainment v. Tenenbaum

Sweden v. The Pirate Bay

Bridgeport Music v. UMG Recordings

Arista Records v. Usenet.com

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