7.6 /10 1 Votes7.6
3.5/5 | 4.1/5 Originally published June 1982 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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(Text) CC BY-SA