Melancholy Elephants

"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.

Hugo Award for Best Short Story (1981–2000)

"Grotto of the Dancing Deer" by Clifford D. Simak (1981) "The Pusher" by John Varley (1982) "Melancholy Elephants" by Spider Robinson (1983) "Speech Sounds" by Octavia E. Butler (1984) "The Crystal Spheres" by David Brin (1985) "Fermi and Frost" by Frederik Pohl (1986) "Tangents" by Greg Bear (1987) "Why I Left Harry's All-Night Hamburgers" by Lawrence Watt-Evans (1988) "Kirinyaga" by Mike Resnick (1989) "Boobs" by Suzy McKee Charnas (1990) "Bears Discover Fire" by Terry Bisson (1991) "A Walk in the Sun" by Geoffrey A. Landis (1992) "Even the Queen" by Connie Willis (1993) "Death on the Nile" by Connie Willis (1994) "None So Blind" by Joe Haldeman (1995) "The Lincoln Train" by Maureen F. McHugh (1996) "The Soul Selects Her Own Society" by Connie Willis (1997) "The 43 Antarean Dynasties" by Mike Resnick (1998) "The Very Pulse of the Machine" by Michael Swanwick (1999) "Scherzo with Tyrannosaur" by Michael Swanwick (2000)

Complete list Retro 1955–1960 1961–1980 1981–2000 2001–present

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