Chinese director Zhang Yimou has laughed off a spate of online video spoofs mocking his blockbusting films.

A series of parodies containing clips from his films have received tens of thousands of clicks online, with 66,000 people viewing a fabricated video depicting a love affair between Zhang and renowned Chinese actress, and often heroine of Zhang's films, Gong Li.

"They are interesting. We really don't care about these web pranks, as long as they can entertain people," Huash.com quoted producer Zhang Weiping, Zhang's long-term partner, as saying.

"Web spoofs have become very popular in China. As long as they don't infringe upon intellectual property and producers' legal rights, we uphold online pranks that make people laugh," Yang Yang, a spokesman for Zhang, said.

Yang said pranksters often parody popular movies which has resulted in Zhang's new movie Curse of the Golden Flower attracting wide public attention before its release at the end of 2006. The online spoof version has received 26,000 hits so far.

Web spoofs have become so popular that a new slang term has been coined - "e-gao". But some directors are struggling to see the funny side.

One of the most popular e-gaos is a 20-minute short film entitled The Bloody Case of the Steamed Bun, using clips from director Chen Kaige's big-budget epic The Promise. Chen has filed a lawsuit against its author Hu Ge.

China's State Administration of Radio, Film and Television announced new rules in August aimed at cooling the fad - "and protecting morality and intellectual property" - by authorizing only a select few websites to screen the short films. 

(China Daily December 1, 2006)