User-created - what about user-rewarded?

In the previous panel session Chris Anderson, editor-in-cheif of Wired magazine, made reference to how his new book The Long Tale has been something of a collaborative process between him and people responding to his blog. It would be fair to assume then that those comments have influenced the content of the book - and hence Anderson has benefitted from their input.

In the current panel, host of TechNation, Dr Moira Gunn, asked the question of whether or not Anderson is planning on sharing some of the wealth from his book with those bloggers. Apparently he will be on TechNation soon. It will be interesting to hear his answer.

This raises the question of where the revenue from user-generated content should flow to. YoutTube now experiences 100 million downloads per day, costing it millions of dollars in bandwidth each year. No one would begrudge the company using advertising to cover its costs - but how far can the model be taken before the site is accused of profiteering from the hard work of others?

Now it is true that no one is forced to post content to YouTube, and that content creators can walk away. It is also possible that users may turn off in droves should the feel the site has become too commercial. But at the end of the day, someone will want to make money out of this ....