Puneet Varma (Editor)

Melancholy Elephants

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Author
  
Spider Robinson

4.1/5
Goodreads

Originally published
  
June 1982

Melancholy Elephants httpsimagesnasslimagesamazoncomimagesI5

Awards
  
Hugo Award for Best Short Story

Nominations
  
Locus Award for Best Short Story, Locus Award for Best Collection

Similar
  
Spider Robinson books, Hugo Award for Best Short Story winners, Other books

"Melancholy Elephants" is a Hugo Award-winning science fiction short story written by Spider Robinson in 1982.

The story examines the interaction of copyright and longevity, and the possible effects of the extension of copyright to perpetuity.

Its title is a reference to claims that elephants "never forget", and to Dickens' description of industrial machinery in Hard Times.

Plot summary

A woman desperately tries to convince a powerful senator to oppose perpetual copyright— because the fate of humanity is at stake.

References

Melancholy Elephants Wikipedia