YouTube pulls the plug on popular AI-generated fake movie trailer channels
YouTube has shut down two high-profile channels, Screen Culture and KH Studio, for repeatedly violating its spam and misleading metadata policies by publishing AI-generated, fake movie trailers, Deadline reports.
Together, the channels had amassed over 2 million subscribers and more than 1 billion views.
Both channels were known for creating highly realistic "trailers" for unreleased or non-existent films by mixing official studio footage with AI-generated visuals, often misleading viewers into believing the projects were real. One example included Screen Culture's 23 versions of a fake Fantastic Four trailer, some of which outranked Marvel's official release.
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Their pages now display a standard YouTube removal notice.
Earlier in 2024, YouTube had demonetized the channels following a Deadline investigation into the rise of AI-generated fake trailers. According to Deadline, the creators later regained monetization by labeling videos as "fan trailers," "parodies," or "concept trailers," but eventually removed those disclaimers and returned to their earlier practices. Deadline reports that this reversion led directly to their termination from YouTube.
The Deadline investigation also found that instead of requesting takedowns, some major studios — including Warner Bros. Discovery and Sony — quietly asked YouTube to redirect ad revenue from these AI-heavy videos to themselves.
Adding to the pressure, Disney recently sent a cease-and-desist letter to Google, alleging that its AI training models infringe Disney copyrights "on a massive scale."
The channel takedowns have been welcomed by parts of the fan-trailer community, with one content creator telling Deadline, "The monster was defeated."
Topics Artificial Intelligence YouTube
Crystal Bell is the Culture Editor at Mashable. She oversees the site's coverage of the creator economy, digital spaces, and internet trends, focusing on how young people engage with others and themselves online. She is particularly interested in how social media platforms shape our online and offline identities.
She was formerly the entertainment director at MTV News, where she helped the brand expand its coverage of extremely online fan culture and K-pop across its platforms. You can find her work in Teen Vogue, PAPER, NYLON, ELLE, Glamour, NME, W, The FADER, and elsewhere on the internet.
She's exceptionally fluent in fandom and will gladly make you a K-pop playlist and/or provide anime recommendations upon request. Crystal lives in New York City with her two black cats, Howl and Sophie.
