An experiment in the YouTube 'lab'

Copyright pressures on YouTube are mounting as media companies struggle to find the right balance between the marketing value of exposure on the top media-sharing site and actually getting paid for their content. "Viacom Inc., parent of MTV and Comedy Central, said it has ordered YouTube to immediately remove more than 100,000 video clips placed on the popular Web site without its approval," the Wall Street Journal reports. Among them would be the likes of Colbert and The Daily Show. "The decision comes after Viacom and YouTube executives failed to reach an agreement over a distribution deal despite months of negotiations," the Journal adds. This is like one long lab session in a giant experiment concerning the mixing of a user-driven Web, content creators, and businesses that live on distributing the content users love to upload, remix, and/or view whenever they like.