YouTube has taken action against two well-known channels that used artificial intelligence to produce fake movie trailers. These channels, Screen Culture and KH Studio, had gained a significant following, amassing over 2 million subscribers and more than a billion views combined.
Currently, viewers who try to access these channels will see a message stating that the page is not available. Both channels are based in different countries, with Screen Culture operating from India and KH Studio from Georgia.
Earlier this year, YouTube had already suspended advertisements on these channels after an investigation revealed that fake movie trailers were becoming a growing issue on the platform due to the rise of generative AI technology.
The channels were able to resume monetization by labeling their videos as “fan trailers,” “parodies,” or “concept trailers.” However, these designations were dropped recently, raising concerns within the community of fan-made trailers.
YouTube determined that the channels violated its policies regarding spam and misleading metadata when they reverted to their previous practices, which ultimately led to their shutdown. Following the enforcement action, one YouTuber expressed relief, stating that the issue had been addressed.
An investigation uncovered that Screen Culture mixed official footage with AI-generated images to create trailers that misled many viewers on YouTube. The founder of Screen Culture, Nikhil P. Chaudhari, mentioned that his team of editors cleverly manipulated YouTube’s algorithm by quickly producing fake trailers and continuously updating their content.
For instance, by March, Screen Culture had produced 23 different versions of a trailer for The Fantastic Four: First Steps, with some versions even outperforming the official trailer in YouTube’s search results. More recent examples included trailers for HBO’s new Harry Potter series and Netflix’s Wednesday.
The investigation revealed that instead of enforcing copyright protections on these videos, some Hollywood studios, such as Warner Bros Discovery and Sony, had secretly requested YouTube to ensure that ad revenue from these AI-driven videos benefited them. However, these studios did not provide any comments on the matter.
Disney’s properties were prominently featured in the content from Screen Culture and KH Studio. Recently, Disney sent a cease-and-desist letter to Google, claiming that the AI models and services used by these channels infringed on its copyrights on a large scale.
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