Can a writer use a title from an in print or out of print book for a new book? Then there’s the question of the use of lyrics from songs, can they be used in the title of a book or even used in the book’s content? It’s not surprising that quite a few authors are uncertain about lawful use and what is believed to be copyright infringement, particularly when it comes to using the original works of others. Think, what if book title was subject to copyright? The law courts would be jammed to the rafters with criminal lawsuits. As breaching copyright is actually a criminal offence!

One advantage is that the title of a book cannot be copyrighted, although if it is part of a series like the “Dummies” series then you cannot pass your work off with that as part of the title. Sort of like in this example, “Using Song Lyrics in Book Titles for Dummies”.

A real hazard area is the use of popular songs in book titles and the likes of. Unless permission is first obtained for the use of popular songs being reprinted anywhere, other than what is commonly called “fair use”, musicians and their well paid legal teams do not take kindly to it.

Novelist George Korankye is the perfect example of how one must go about seeking permission for the use of song titles for books. The’72 song “I Can See Clearly Now the Rain is Gone” by Johnny Nash appealed to George, so much so that he researched the copyright holder’s details and penned a letter to them asking for permission to use it on his new novel. Luckily for George he had a swift response, but in some cases there can be lengthy delay. So do be sure to take this into account when planning the release date of your book. Often you may get passed over from one to another, and there can be lengthy delays, leaving you, the author, in a halfway house situation.

There are successful books out there with titles from song lyrics. First example that swoops to mind: A series of titles from Wally Lamb: “I Know This Much Is True”. “She’s Come Undone”. “Couldn’t Keep It To Myself”. Oh, and of course the George Korankye book “I Can See Clearly Now the Rain is Gone”.

The Dunblane heartbreak novel “I Can See Clearly Now the Rain is Gone” by George Korankye uses the events that happened in’96 when 16 schoolchildren and their teacher were murdered. That tragedy is a template for the book. Although permission was granted to use the title from Johnny Nash’s song, lyrics need permission. Usually a song title falls under “fair use”. Obviously this is something worth checking out, as it may be subject to a trade mark registration.

There is also a fitting and cathartic musical surprise ending to the storyline in the book. George Korankye used the song title for his book “I Can See Clearly Now the Rain is Gone” because he sees it as a song of hope and courage for individuals who have experienced adversity in their lives, and hopes it helps them overcome it. It reflects the Dunblane tragedy and that is what the novel sets out to achieve right from the outset, a resounding echo of overcoming adversity.

Born on August’,'40, in Houston, Texas, the African-American pop singer-songwriter and megastar Johnny Nash (John Lester Nash, Jr.) is better known for his unpredicted’72 comeback hit song, “I Can See Clearly Now”. He also, as history will show, holds the accolade of being the first non-Jamaican to record reggae music in Jamaica’s capital city, Kingston.

Johnny Nash began by singing in his Baptist church’s choir, then in the fifties he started having mediocre success performing covers of R…B hits. He also had award winning success as an actor, winning the Silver Sail Award at the Locarno International Film Festival for his role in the big screen version of Louis S. Peterson’s “Take a Giant Step”. As recently as 2006 he was still working, digitising his past hits in a Houston recording studio.

Besides “I Can See Clearly Now the Rain is Gone” Nash recorded several hits in Jamaica, where he travelled in early’68, as his girlfriend had family links with local TV and radio host and novel writer Neville Willoughby. Nash planned to try breaking the local rocksteady sound in the United States.

“I Can See Clearly Now the Rain is Gone” has had numerous cover versions, one by Jimmy Cliff went to number’ in the US in’94. His version was in the John Candy movie “Cool Runnings”, about the Jamaican bobsled team.

Although the single “I Can See Clearly Now the Rain is Gone” sold seven million copies, arranger Martyn Ford only received the paltry sum of 35 for his services. Johnny Nash is still as appealing as ever with his outstanding voice and music. It shows how a song title and a book can mesh together in perfect harmony. The song title “I Can See Clearly Now the Rain is Gone” shows how such a title can be successfully migrated to a novel, and all quite legally. It just takes a little research, which thankfully George Korankye did; otherwise he might have ended up in court. So do check out the legal status of things beforehand.

Radiographer turned novelist George Korankye wrote his first novel, bestowing upon it Johnny Nash’s “I Can See Clearly Now the Rain Is Gone”“. Korankye successfully obtained permission from Johnny Nash to go ahead and use the song title for his book. Always seek to secure permission when it comes to using lyrics from songs, as it goes a long way in protecting you from litigation.

categories: publishing,copyright law,song lyrics,radiographer,book reviews,books,writing,careers,author,radiography,radiographer,books,novels

If a survey by the National Center For Education Statistics is to be believed, almost 1.1 million children underwent home schooling in 2005 alone. That is a great deal of children. Once upon a time, homeschooling used to be a radical statement – something like a declaration of independence.

It was the conservative Christians who advocated homeschooling in the 1980’s and legalized it in every State. But nowadays the average homeschooling pupil is not religiously motivated.

More recent surveys show that parents are quite fed up with the public school system where a lot of the learning is superficial and compulsory. They are also concerned about the negative environment in school, ranging from drugs and abuse to negative peer pressure.

As a result, we have a surprising mix of people who form the homeschooling world of today. They cut across all religious creeds and all regional borders. Their main aim is providing meaningful and productive learning through a method that strengthens the bond between the various members of the family.

All these families have one main thing in common – a long enduring commitment to the sanctity of childhood. The children in these families are accorded a primary position. Many believe, and, I think, rightly so, that home schooling allows parents to bring up their children in a more natural and nurturing environment.

Public schools can make a child nervous, subservient and thoroughly nasty. Children who get their education at home are protected from these damaging, negative influences until they attain an age where they can deal with them.

Home-schooling draws the whole family into the quasi religious job of teaching. Everyone has a role to play. Both the parents together form a bond with the children. Any experience can be turned into an educational experience. Both the parents are aware of exactly what is going on in their child’s education.

Parents also have a greater control over the kind of religious and moral values that the child is taught. Even watching a film together can become an educational experience. Trips to the libraries, zoos, museums and other places become educational as well as recreational.

A home-schooling family is usually dependent on the income of one earning member. That means that quite often outgoings have to be curtailed and proper planning of expenditure is a must. This helps to bring the family members together and everybody becomes involved in the task of not spending money.

Merely having a parent at home to look after, to nurture and to care for the children brings with it a lot of love and caring. Even the husband chips in and there is just no room for boredom.

All right, problems do crop up, and there will be many misgivings in your mind, but when you know that your children can always count on you, and your kids know it too, then homeschooling becomes a richly rewarding experience.

If you are practicing Home Schooling then please pop along to our site at Home Schooling Information

Writing professional CVs for a living, I see an incredible amount of writing from lots of different people. You can actually tell from the tone of the writing in a piece of work exactly what is going through the mind of the writer. This is particularly important if you are going through a difficult time in work- for example, redundancies are being spoken about in your workplace, so you feel threatened and vulnerable

You cannot help the way you feel about an event that is going on in your life. Feelings of desperation, despair, loneliness, etc. find a way of getting in to your subconscious mind and this definitely transmits through to the things you say and write about. One of the first things to do to resolve this issue is to understand it in the first place. Once you understand that your feelings definitely transmit into writing, you can start to do something about it

Just the simple fact of understanding that your feelings affect the way you come across in writing can help you get the results that you desire from your writing. For example, if you are at your best first thing in the morning, clearly it makes sense to write then. We all have some degree of flexibility in our schedule and choosing to write at the time when we are at our best and perhaps just planning when we are not so good

It stands to fairly simple reason that good feeling come over on paper or a computer screen as clearly as they would in person. Make absolutely certain that someone that you know and rust looks over the work that you are creating and gives you a realistic, critical view on how you sound to the reader. If you are writing something important like a CV then make absolutely sure to write it when you are feeling your best

Never write when you are feeling tired. If you want to be sure to turn off your reader, make sure you write when tired. You will end up using language that turns the reader off, not on and you may as well not bother in the first place.

The best writers of every generation have always put something of themselves into their writing. Giving of yourself enables you to connect with he reader in a powerful way that stays with the reader long after the piece of writing is put down. Try and make your writing memorable. Connect with your audience at an emotional level and you’re part way there

Incredible results come from taking a few risks. Make the effort to really connect with your reader and you will stand out from the crowd. this is particularly important in a document like a CV which is a selling document. It is designed to sell you to an employer,so connecting is vital. In fact it is often the difference between getting an interview or a rejection letter

About the writer: Mr. Hughes is part of a team of professional cv writers. If you need assistance with your resume or CV, think about a cv writing service to get the reults that you deserve

Ever thought about what you would do when you end higher education or a change of job? Ever thought about what it would be like to be a radiographer? Well read on. The world has a lack of radiographers. The United Nations have given one day annually, 8th November, to World Radiography Day.

Radiographers are thin on the ground when it comes to medical diagnostic procedures. This is causing a delay in dispensing medical treatment in hospitals due to the chain of treatment having a missing link, namely a radiographer. In the hope of attracting potential newbies to the ranks of the radiography fraternity, the UK Government are taking various steps to swell the depleted ranks of radiographers.

The Society and College of Radiographers is to present an annual honor, Radiographer of the Year, to one special member as a means in putting the spotlight on the role of radiographers. This event will take place at Parliament’s House of Commons in London.

The gripping sympathetic fiction/faction novel, “I Can See Clearly Now the Rain is Gone”, by George Korankye based on the real life incident at Dunblane will help swell the interest in the role of the radiographer in the medical profession.

This is the first time a fictional book, “I Can See Clearly Now the Rain is Gone”, features a radiographer as its hero. The title of the book has been taken from legendary singer Johnny Nash’s song of the same title.

The “faction” book of factual events from a radiographer’s point of view are seamlessly blended and revolve around the fictional Bonnyholly Hospital, which serves a picturesque small town in Scotland.

With the lack of public awareness of what a radiographer’s role is in the medical profession, the Chief Executive Officer of the Society and College of Radiographers, Richard Evans, commended George Korankye in broaching the subject. Indeed, Mr Evans even went so far as to tell second time author George Korankye that he would be pleased to assist in spreading the news of the book.

The book, “I Can See Clearly Now the Rain is Gone”, although fictional, will hopefully help educate and stimulate the public’s interest in the essential roles of radiographers. Diagnostic Radiographers are involved in, Ultrasound, CT and MRI scans, Nuclear Medicine, Bone Density, Endoscopies, Cardiac surgery, and Dental examinations.

Radiographers carry out various tasks, but one particularly important role is in the operating theatre. When it comes to urology and orthopaedic procedures, you certainly wouldn’t want to undergo surgery without one being present.

On a didactic note, archaeologists, historians and anthropologists have exploited the diagnostic talents of radiographers in unearthing more about our ancestors by x-raying mummies, tombs, etc without breaching caskets. Anonymously to the public, radiographers take on research in universities and non academic amenities.

Looking to find out more about radiography then see this site “I Can See Clearly Now the Rain is Gone”, then visit George Korankye at his site to find the best advice on a new radiographer career for you.

categories: book reviews, books, medical career, career, medical, lifestyle, awards, health care

Nobody actually knows when speed reading was first used, but it may well have been a long while ago. For centuries, reading was the privilege of a minority of the most highly-educated individuals in the world, the overwhelming majority of whom were monks and priests. This tiny, select group of men guarded their privilege and were loathe to instruct the general public to read. Moreover, throughout those hundreds of years there were relatively few books to read compared with nowadays. Books were also very expensive as they all had to be copied out by hand. Perhaps the only fact that has not altered is that the Bible was the most widespread book in existence and even now the Bible is the most prevalent book.

The world is quickly becoming a place where individuals are slowly but surely giving up on books and becoming fixed in front of monitors or television screens. In such a world, parents must not ignore the importance of developing a zeal for reading in themselves and their children. Reading is a habit that should be established when the child is fairly young, so what can you do to engender this habit?

Well, there are a number of strategies you can make use of, although one of the best to lead by example. Read with your child every day, even if its only for 10-15 minutes. Permit your child to see you reading. By this I mean, don’t only read in bed before you go to sleep, but in place of watching television sometimes and read your children a bed-time story. Encourage them to read too. You could also:

Enroll your child for reading lessons, if you really don’t have any time or your child is a little slow at reading. There are many well-structured after school reading classes that aim to make books more appealing to children. They help children with pronunciation, idioms and metaphors. These lessons can be entertaining with cartoon characters and pictures, especially for young children,. They often make use of picture books, rhymes, comical songs and short stories to spark the imagination of younger children.

You will have to learn how to arouse your child’s interest. If your child has a favorite character, pick a series of books that include this character. Endeavor to encourage your children to read proper books not comics. The style in comics frequently leaves a great deal to be desired with its sloppy English and street slang. As an alternative, go for series of books like Harry Potter or Tarzan.

You should build yourself a library of your own books. This may sound a little grand, but after all, a library is only a collection of books. Begin with a good-looking bookshelf that you can easily build on. A talent like reading cannot be learned in only one place, so you cannot afford to leave all the difficult work to the day-school or even the after school curricula. You have to pick up books that you think your child will enjoy too. Use the Internet as a resource for learning about the modern reading games that will attract young children to the superior and ancient art of reading,

When you child is interested in reading for its own sake, you might read up on speed reading. Speed reading is best suited for informative learning and background reading. It’s immensely suited to cramming or studying for examinations. It is ideal for school and university. However, the first job, before you can think about speed reading, is to get your child reading in the first place.

In todays busy yet pressured economy, there are many thousands more people going for every job. Little wonder then that more CVs get rejected now than ever. You need to know exactly why your CV is being rejected. Checking your CV against the list here may help you get some more interviews

A CV is definitely not the place to express your particular brand of individuality. Avoid bright colours, cheap paper, crazy fonts and the like. If you are printing out your CV, print it out onto excellent quality paper, with matching envelope. Black print on a white or beige background is the norm- deviate from it at your absolute peril

A good strong personal profile or career objective paragraph at the top of your CV makes it easy for the reader to want to know more about you. In many case, it is enough to get your CV through that all important “first sift” and into the maybe pile. You have less than 30 seconds in which to make a favourable impression. Make sure that impression is positive and that you get through the first stage at the very least

If your CV is responsibility led rather than achievement led, you are almost bound to get your CV rejected. Employers expect you to have carried out your responsibilities- if you didn’t, what use are you to them. Achievements separate the wheat from the chaff- show what you have done for your past employers through your personal and team achievements

Stupid email addresses are another surprisingly common reason for CV rejection. You should include a sober email address, with perhaps your name and a few numbers in the address. Avoid anything racy, racist, sexy, funky, etc. in your email. Get yourself a boring email address and make sure that you check it frequently

Your hobbies are there to show how engaging you are as an individual, to add a little spice to your CV. Avoid inclusion of any hobbies or interests that could prejudice your application. Political party membership, membership of activist organisations and the like should be avoided. Enough spice to be interesting, sober enough to tell your grandmother perhaps brackets the accepted limits

Failure to read a job description thoroughly will get you rejected. The reason is that your cover letter should sell your experience and achievements to make sure that you tick all the boxes. If you want to, adapt your CV to the job in hand, perhaps a better way is to get a great cover letter written that gets you through the door. It makes all the difference in the world

People rely on spell checking all the time nowadays. This makes people a little lazy. Spell checkers won’t get a persons name spelled correctly. This is such a common mistake that I thought that people would have learned by now. Spell the recruiters name wrong and watch a stream of rejection letters come through your letterbox- if you get anything back at all!

What have you been reading lately? In a gathering, you can soon see who the frequent readers are, since wide readers are often quick thinkers and good public speakers too. They quickly win the adulation, respect, and fellowship of others. After all, reading expands the mind and many people see it as one of the most satisfying pleasures known to mankind, being a combination, as it is, of mental agility and physical relaxation well above the level offered by television or the cinema.

Reading is primarily a mental activity, as you read with your mind and use your imagination to depict the setting of the detective thriller you are reading. You use your mind to imagine the pain that the main characters in the story are experiencing as the plot unfolds; or you contemplate the different arguments and ideas introduced by the author of that self-help book you are holding.

Being able to read effectively helps you to develop (an extensive|a wide vocabulary through reading different styles of books. A skillful reader recognizes a wide range of vocabulary. The reader may not know exactly what every word means, but he/she will have a good idea of what the sentence means.

The act of reading makes you more aware and more interested in new words. Some readers even like to employ ‘the dictionary habit’, which means that every time they find a new word, they attempt to figure out what it means from the context. If they are stumped, they refer to a dictionary.

Similarly, reading develops intellectual curiosity by exposing the reader to a variety of subjects. He/she learns to read by reading books of increasing difficulty and variety. Just as in other types of education, he/she is learning by actually doing and while he/she is reading he/she is automatically learning about the subject matter of the book too – a free by-product!

Reading trains you to have an active and open mind. Merely understanding the writers idea is not really good enough, you must have a reply to what you read. Be an active, not a passive, reader. Try to develop the habit of drawing your own conclusions, the habit of active thinking, of agreeing or disagreeing with the writer. Always keep your mind open; understand and consider the ideas that you read. A practical part of active reading is the development of one’s own conclusions.

Now let me mention the phenomenon called speed reading. All of the above applies between three and ten times over, because speed readers can read that much faster than the average reader! Imagine that! – Being able to read, comprehend and remember all those books and articles. You would surely become well-read in your field much more rapidly than others. Just think how that could help you at work, in school or in college …

Allow me to share four basic rules for effective reading and better comprehension:

1) Try to read more and more every month. Remember the saying that practice makes perfect. 2) Develop the habit of reading for main ideas. Look for the subject and predicate. Do not waste time on details or little words. 3) Learn to read with focus and concentration. Think of what you are reading. Do not let your attention wander somewhere else. Good readers read with understanding. 4) Learn to budget your time. Experiment with your reading time. Try purposely to read faster. Give yourself a time limit for a specific piece that you are reading.

Reading is a wonderfully stimulating mental activity. It expands your understanding and capability. You have so much to gain by discovering the joy of reading. So, go ahead and get down a book right this minute.

Are there still jobs available out there in the big bad world right now? Of course there are but competition is now so much more difficult as there are so few jobs being advertised right now compared with, say a year ago. Companies under cost pressure will not necessarily pay for advertising any more

So- what does the fact that there are less jobs available mean to me? For a start- it means that you need to be better than ever before. People, particularly recruiters are in a buyers market. They can get some great people to work for them at bargain rates. Far from being over qualified for a job, being under qualified is a far bigger issue

There are actually jobs available at the moment. The truth is that more competition means that your CV needs to be far better than ever it was before. You will have absolutely no chance right now of getting a decent job if your CV isn’t right up there with the best. Read a good book on the subject at least so that you get a chance at success

Given that employers are getting up to twenty times more applications for every single job that they advertise, getting your CV or application form through the first sift that the employer makes is even more important right now. In the very first paragraph of the CV, commonly called the profile, make sure that the recruiter knows exactly what you can do, in what sector, and in what geographical location

A strong cover letter is now also essential. This can set your application apart from all the rest and also in the long run same you time. Rather than amending your CV for each and every job application, you might want to consider tailoring your cover letter. Don’t want to be bothered? No matter, survival isn’t compulsory, the dinosaurs didn’t adapt, if you don’t, your fate will be similar

Target companies that you want to work for. There are still genuine companies out there that need great people like you. Find out who makes the recruitment decisions in the company that you want to work for and approach them with a professional CV readily prepared. Tough times do not last, tough people do- make sure that you are prepared to do whatever it takes to get your CV noticed. There truly are no traffic jams on the extra mile