Between 1869 and 1930, some 200 writers imitated, revised or parodied Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland. Some sent Carroll's plucky protagonist into other imaginary lands others sent different protagonists to encounter the Mad Hatter or the Cheshire Cat. Some promoted conservative agendas, others advocated feminism or socialism. Among Carroll's imitators were literary figures such as Christina Rossetti, Frances Hodgson Burnett and E. Nesbit. Literary critic Carolyn Sigler argues that Alice parodies contributed considerably to Carroll's subsequent reputation. Today, after Shakespeare's work and the Bible, Lewis Carroll's writings are the most often cited in the English-speaking world.

Now try a thought experiment. Imagine that the Wonderland stories were first appearing in 2000 as products of Disney or Viacom, and Rossetti, Burnett and Nesbit were publishing their parodies on the Internet. How long would it be before they were shut down by "cease-and-desist" letters? How many people would download "A New Alice in the Old Wonderland" before a studio flack asserted Disney's exclusive control over Humpty Dumpty, The Cheshire Cat or The Red Queen?