Anne asks: At what point does collaboration cease to be reciprocal and simply become appropriation?

I’ve written many times, here and elsewhere, that I question the kind of reciprocity at work when a small group of people profit from the work of many others.

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In the past I would have considered these things amongst the ill effects of capitalism, but now I think it’s a bit more complicated than that. After all, some of this labour is actually being done for free. Out of love even, like with Flickr or any number of mod communities. The DIY ethic, in fact, is based on the power of creative re-use and re-appropriation. But these terms are now being tossed around in software and hardware development like organisations and companies only care about democratic participation, and not profitability.
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At what point are labour and love exploited? When does collaboration become appropriation?

I’ve written an alarmingly long and incoherent response in the comments section of the original post.