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1. YOUTUBE: Walk around the class and talk to other students about YouTube. Change partners often. Sit with your first partner(s) and share your findings.

2. CHAT: In pairs / groups, decide which of these topics or words from the article are most interesting and which are most boring.

court / video sharing / posted illegally / paying royalties / songwriters / tunes / costly / copyright / filters / responsible / at fault / finding a solution / record labels

Have a chat about the topics you liked. Change topics and partners frequently.

3. FREE: What things should be free online? Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners and share what you wrote. Change and share again.

	Why?	Pros and Cons?
Music
News
Sport
Videos
Books
Games

4. COPYRIGHT: Students A strongly believe YouTube is responsible for videos illegally posted on it site; Students B strongly believe not.  Change partners again and talk about your conversations.

5. SITES: Which ones do you like best? Rank these and share your rankings with your partner. Put the best at the top. Change partners and share your rankings again.

YouTube Flickr Facebook Google

Twitter Wikipedia Amazon eBay

6. VIDEO: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word 'video'. Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.

BEFORE READING / LISTENING

1. TRUE / FALSE: Read the headline. Guess if  a-h  below are true (T) or false (F).

a.	A German court sais YouTube uploads illegal content onto its site.	T / F
b.	The court said YouTube should sue illegal users in court and fine them.	T / F
c.	An organization called Gema has fought YouTube in court since 2010.	T / F
d.	YouTube may have to pay a lot of money to Gema and its clients.	T / F
e.	The court ruled that YouTube was a serious copyright violator.	T / F
f.	YouTube blamed its users for posting copyrighted material to the site.	T / F
g.	YouTube said it could do very little to help artists and singers.	T / F
h.	Around 60 hours of videos are uploaded to the YouTube every minute.	T / F

2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article.

1.	ruled	a.	blames
2.	posted	b.	expensive
3.	represents	c.	infringer
4.	accuses	d.	dedicated
5.	costly	e.	pronounced
6.	violator	f.	put into effect
7.	implement	g.	in the wrong
8.	at fault	h.	uploaded
9.	committed	i.	presently
10.	currently	j.	acts for

3. PHRASE MATCH:  (Sometimes more than one choice is possible.)

1.	posted	a.	uploading copyrighted music
2.	do more to prevent posters	b.	YouTube community
3.	represents over	c.	costly
4.	YouTube may be forced	d.	violator
5.	This could prove extremely	e.	filters
6.	copyright	f.	to pay royalties
7.	implement stronger	g.	to finding a solution
8.	at	h.	illegally
9.	We remain committed	i.	fault
10.	… as well as the wider	j.	64,000 German musicians

 

WHILE READING / LISTENING

GAP FILL: Put the words into the gaps in the text.

A court in Hamburg, Germany has (1) ____________ that the video-sharing site YouTube is responsible for videos on its site that are posted illegally. The ruling said YouTube must do more to    (2) ____________ posters uploading copyrighted music videos to the site. The (3) ____________ was brought to the courts by the royalty-collecting organization Gema, which (4) ____________ over 64,000 German musicians and songwriters. Gema has been fighting YouTube in the courts since 2010. The group                (5) ____________ YouTube of using music online without         (6) ____________ royalties to those who produced the tunes. YouTube may be forced to pay royalties for all the video            (7) ____________ on its site. This could (8) ____________ extremely costly for Google, the owner of YouTube.		accuses prove prevent represents ruled clips case paying
The court said it did not (9) ____________ YouTube to be the copyright violator, but the user who (10) ____________ the song. It did say, however, that YouTube must implement stronger filters to block copyrighted (11) ____________. YouTube representatives say the site is not responsible for what users post to it. They (12) ____________ those who post copyrighted material are at fault and that the YouTube site is                     (13) ____________ a platform for sharing. A spokesman said: "We remain committed to finding a (14) ____________ to the music licensing issue in Germany that will benefit artists, composers, authors, publishers and record labels, as well as the (15) ____________ YouTube community." Currently,              (16) ____________ 60 hours of videos are uploaded to the YouTube site every minute.		simply material wider consider around uploaded solution claim

LISTENING – Listen and fill in the gaps

A court in Hamburg, Germany __________________ the video-sharing site YouTube is responsible for videos on its site that __________________. The ruling said YouTube must do more __________________ uploading copyrighted music videos to the site. The case was brought to the courts by the royalty-collecting organization Gema, __________________ over 64,000 German musicians and songwriters. Gema has been fighting YouTube in the courts since 2010. The group accuses YouTube of using music online without __________________ to those who produced the tunes. YouTube may be forced to pay royalties for all the video clips on its site. This could prove __________________ for Google, the owner of YouTube.

The court said it __________________ YouTube to be the copyright violator, but the user who uploaded the song. It did say, however, that YouTube must implement __________________ to block copyrighted material. YouTube representatives say the site is not responsible for what users post to it. They claim those who post copyrighted _____________________ and that the YouTube site is simply a platform for sharing. A spokesman said: "We remain committed to __________________ to the music licensing issue in Germany that will benefit artists, ____________________, publishers and record labels, as well as the wider YouTube community." __________________ hours of videos are uploaded to the YouTube site every minute.

 
 

AFTER READING / LISTENING

1. WORD SEARCH: Look in your dictionary / computer to find collocates, other meanings, information, synonyms … for the words 'video' and 'clip'.

video

clip

• Share your findings with your partners.

• Make questions using the words you found.
• Ask your partner / group your questions.

2. ARTICLE QUESTIONS: Look back at the article and write down some questions you would like to ask the class about the text.

• Share your questions with other classmates / groups.
• Ask your partner / group your questions.

3. GAP FILL: In pairs / groups, compare your answers to this exercise. Check your answers. Talk about the words from the activity. Were they new, interesting, worth learning…?

4. VOCABULARY: Circle any words you do not understand. In groups, pool unknown words and use dictionaries to find their meanings.

5. TEST EACH OTHER: Look at the words below. With your partner, try to recall how they were used in the text:

ruled more 64,000 fighting without costly

consider stronger claim remain benefit 60

YOUTUBE SURVEY

Write five GOOD questions about YouTube in the table. Do this in pairs. Each student must write the questions on his / her own paper.

When you have finished, interview other students. Write down their answers.

	STUDENT 1 _____________	STUDENT 2 _____________	STUDENT 3 _____________
Q.1.
Q.2.
Q.3.
Q.4.
Q.5.

• Now return to your original partner and share and talk about what you found out. Change partners often.

• Make mini-presentations to other groups on your findings.

 
 

YOUTUBE DISCUSSION

STUDENT A's QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)

a)	What did you think when you read the headline?
b)	What springs to mind when you hear the word 'YouTube'?
c)	What do you think of YouTube?
d)	Do you worry that YouTube users post copyrighted material on the site?
e)	What do you know about copyright?
f)	What do you think about copyright?
g)	What can YouTube do to prevent copyrighted material getting onto its site?
h)	What do you think musicians think about their material appearing on YouTube (and perhaps losing revenue because people do not buy the music)?
i)	When did you first use YouTube and what did you think of it?
j)	Would it matter to Google if it had to pay royalties?

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STUDENT B's QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)

a)	Did you like reading this article?
b)	Do you think YouTube in any way violates copyright laws because of the copyrighted content on its site?
c)	Should YouTube block people who post copyrighted content?
d)	How committed do you think YouTube is to finding a solution?
e)	What's the best thing about YouTube?
f)	Would life be any different for you without YouTube?
g)	What's the best video you've seen on YouTube?
h)	What do you think about the volume of stuff uploaded on YouTube?
i)	What do you think YouTube will be like in ten years from now?
j)	What questions would you like to ask YouTube's boss?

LANGUAGE – MULTIPLE CHOICE

A court in Hamburg, Germany has (1) ____ that the video-sharing site YouTube is responsible for videos on its site that are posted (2) ____. The ruling said YouTube must do more to prevent posters uploading copyrighted music videos to the site. The case was (3) ____ to the courts by the royalty-collecting organization Gema, which represents over 64,000 German musicians and songwriters. Gema has been fighting YouTube in the courts since 2010. The group (4) ____ YouTube of using music online without (5) ____ royalties to those who produced the tunes. YouTube may be forced to pay royalties for all the video clips on its site. This could (6) ____ extremely costly for Google, the owner of YouTube.

The court said it did not consider YouTube to be the copyright violator, but the user who uploaded the song. It did say, (7) ____, that YouTube must implement stronger filters to block copyrighted material. YouTube representatives say the site is not responsible for (8) ____ users post to it. They claim those who post copyrighted material are (9) ____ fault and that the YouTube site is simply a platform for sharing. A spokesman said: "We (10) ____ committed to finding a solution to the music licensing (11) ____ in Germany that will benefit artists, composers, authors, publishers and record labels, as well as the (12) ____ YouTube community." Currently, around 60 hours of videos are uploaded to the YouTube site every minute.

Put the correct words from the table below in the above article.

1.	(a)	rules	(b)	ruling	(c)	rulers	(d)	ruled
2.	(a)	illegal	(b)	legality	(c)	illegally	(d)	legal
3.	(a)	bought	(b)	brought	(c)	wrought	(d)	rout
4.	(a)	accuses	(b)	bemuses	(c)	reuses	(d)	refuses
5.	(a)	payment	(b)	pays	(c)	paying	(d)	paid
6.	(a)	trove	(b)	grove	(c)	rove	(d)	prove
7.	(a)	so	(b)	however	(c)	but	(d)	furthermore
8.	(a)	what	(b)	that	(c)	which	(d)	this
9.	(a)	by	(b)	at	(c)	on	(d)	as
10.	(a)	retrain	(b)	refrain	(c)	remain	(d)	restrain
11.	(a)	issue	(b)	edition	(c)	version	(d)	release
12.	(a)	width	(b)	widen	(c)	wide-eyed	(d)	wider

 
 

WRITING

Write about YouTube for 10 minutes. Correct your partner's paper.

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HOMEWORK

1. VOCABULARY EXTENSION: Choose several of the words from the text. Use a dictionary or Google's search field (or another search engine) to build up more associations / collocations of each word.

2. INTERNET: Search the Internet and find out more about YouTube and copyright. Share what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.

3. YOUTUBE: Make a poster about YouTube. Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things?

4. MUSIC: Write a magazine article about the court case. Include imaginary interviews with a musician whose copyright is being violated and a YouTube representative.

Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Write down any new words and expressions you hear from your partner(s).

5. LETTER: Write a letter to the boss of YouTube. Ask him/her three questions about YouTube. Give him/her three ideas on how to make it better. Read your letter to your partner(s) in your next lesson. Your partner(s) will answer your questions.

 

 
 

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

a.

F

b.

F

c.

T

d.

T

e.

F

f.

T

g.

F

h.

T

SYNONYM MATCH:

1.	ruled	a.	pronounced
2.	posted	b.	uploaded
3.	represents	c.	acts for
4.	accuses	d.	blames
5.	costly	e.	expensive
6.	violator	f.	infringer
7.	implement	g.	put into effect
8.	at fault	h.	in the wrong
9.	committed	i.	dedicated
10.	currently	j.	presently

PHRASE MATCH:

1.	posted	a.	illegally
2.	do more to prevent posters	b.	uploading copyrighted music
3.	represents over	c.	64,000 German musicians
4.	YouTube may be forced	d.	to pay royalties
5.	This could prove extremely	e.	costly
6.	copyright	f.	violator
7.	implement stronger	g.	filters
8.	at	h.	fault
9.	We remain committed	i.	to finding a solution
10.	… as well as the wider	j.	YouTube community

GAP FILL:

Germany rules against YouTube in copyright case

A court in Hamburg, Germany has (1) ruled that the video-sharing site YouTube is responsible for videos on its site that are posted illegally. The ruling said YouTube must do more to (2) prevent posters uploading copyrighted music videos to the site. The (3) case was brought to the courts by the royalty-collecting organization Gema, which (4) represents over 64,000 German musicians and songwriters. Gema has been fighting YouTube in the courts since 2010. The group (5) accuses YouTube of using music online without (6) paying royalties to those who produced the tunes. YouTube may be forced to pay royalties for all the video (7) clips on its site. This could (8) prove extremely costly for Google, the owner of YouTube.

The court said it did not (9) consider YouTube to be the copyright violator, but the user who (10) uploaded the song. It did say, however, that YouTube must implement stronger filters to block copyrighted (11) material. YouTube representatives say the site is not responsible for what users post to it. They (12) claim those who post copyrighted material are at fault and that the YouTube site is (13) simply a platform for sharing. A spokesman said: "We remain committed to finding a (14) solution to the music licensing issue in Germany that will benefit artists, composers, authors, publishers and record labels, as well as the (15) wider YouTube community." Currently, (16) around 60 hours of videos are uploaded to the YouTube site every minute.

LANGUAGE WORK

1 - d

2 - c

3 - b

4 - a

5 - c

6 - d

7 - b

8 - a

9 - b

10 - c

11 - a

12 - d

 

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