YouTube Cracks Down on AI-Generated Fake Movie Trailers, Cutting Studios' Unexpected Revenue Stream

Movie studios are being financially rewarded for AI slop on YouTube

Jess Weatherbed is a news writer focused on creative industries, computing, and internet culture. Jess started her career at TechRadar, covering news and hardware reviews. Some Hollywood studios are reportedly earning money from fake AI-generated movie trailers on YouTube, against the wishes of the union representing actors. According to a report from Deadline, Warner Bros. Discovery, Paramount, and Sony Pictures redirected ad revenue to themselves instead of enforcing copyright protections and shutting down the popular Screen Culture and KH Studio trailer accounts. In response, the SAG-AFTRA union has criticized the studios for profiting off videos that use AI to exploit their members' likenesses without permission. Fanmade trailers are nothing new, but AI video generators like OpenAI's Sora and Google's Veo have made it easier than ever for anyone to make artificially generated content. YouTube is becoming saturated with AI-generated slop that studios could tackle by issuing copyright strikes against offending accounts, but that would prevent them from monetizing the views on this new influx of content. Screen Culture has 1.4 million subscribers and almost 1.4 billion channel views, a larger audience than KH Studio's 683,000 subscribers and 560 million views. The fake movie trailers created by both accounts follow a similar pattern: fusing together short clips from real movies or TV shows with AI-generated content. Many are based on real, unreleased movies that already have official trailers, such as Superman and Jurassic World: Rebirth, while others masquerade as fictitious TV seasons, movie sequels, or big-screen adaptations of other popular franchises. Two days after Deadline published its investigation, YouTube stopped Screen Culture and KH Studio from being able to monetize their clickbait content. According to Deadline, the accounts were suspended from YouTube's partner program for violating its video monetization policies. Creators are not permitted to make videos that are "duplicative or repetitive" or made "for the sole purpose of getting views," and have to make significant alterations to any material taken from other sources. YouTube's misinformation policies also bar creators from manipulating content in a way that misleads viewers, which would include creating fake trailers that can intentionally be mistaken for officially produced videos. Screen Culture and KH Studio can appeal the decision to pause their ad revenue. A notable change has already occurred on KH Studio's channel -- while older videos were described as being a "first trailer," the three most recent uploads are instead titled "concept trailer." Learning that studios are profiting from AI slop rather than protecting actors' likenesses is likely a gut punch for union members who have worked hard to negotiate AI consent into their contracts. "Just as SAG-AFTRA is aggressively bargaining contract terms and creating laws to protect and enforce our members' voice and likeness rights, we expect our bargaining partners to aggressively enforce their IP from any, and all AI misappropriation," SAG-AFTRA said in a statement to Deadline. "Monetizing unauthorized, unwanted, and subpar uses of human-centered IP is a race to the bottom. It incentivizes technology companies and short-term gains at the expense of lasting human creative endeavor."

Movie studios have been making serious money from AI slop on YouTube

Regular YouTube users have likely noticed an abundance of AI-generated this past year or so. This annoying AI slop is all over the platform. As it turns out, major movie studios have actually been making money from the videos, . The scheme worked sort of like a mob shakedown. Hollywood studios would not enforce copyright on these videos. Instead, they struck a deal with YouTube to ensure they got the ad revenue instead of the people that typed in a couple of prompts and did some light editing. One of the most famous of these videos is a bogus trailer for the upcoming Superman reboot. This one actually tricked French national television, leading director James Gunn to post . He likely didn't know that Warner Bros. Discovery was one of the companies racking up cash for these pale imitations. There's a question here as to why major film studios would allow their brands to be diluted by AI-generated nonsense. After all, these fake trailers exist right next to the actual teasers and it's been proven that they can confuse people. We don't have any actual monetary figures, but the videos have racked up billions of views. Maybe that's enough for short-sighted companies. The actors union SAG-AFTRA has called the whole thing a "race to the bottom." In any event, the gravy train has run out of steam. YouTube has turned off ad revenue for these kinds of videos, which was likely done . Popular channels that distribute this content, like Screen Culture, have been removed from the partner program. Now nobody will make money from a slightly-off Leonardo DiCaprio making his way . The channels can appeal YouTube's decision. The founder of a channel called KH Studio, which has amassed hundreds of millions of views, has said that they never intended to mislead viewers. They just wanted to create "what if" scenarios. "I've been running KH Studio full-time for over three years now, putting everything into it. It's tough to see it grouped under 'misleading content' in the demonetization decision, when my goal has always been to explore creative possibilities - not to misrepresent real releases," they added. We contacted Screen Culture for comment and will update this post if we hear back. That channel has over 1.4 million subscribers and has posted a whopping 1,800 videos. If something exists, Screen Culture has likely made a fake trailer for it. For instance, the channel has posted over 20 AI-generated trailers for the upcoming Marvel film Fantastic Four: First Steps.

YouTube demonetizes fake movie trailer channels after investigation

In brief: Following an investigation into the huge number of fake movie trailers seen on YouTube - most of which use AI to some degree - and how the money they generate is funneled back to the movie studios, YouTube has paused monetization for two of the biggest channels that create them. You've likely seen at least one fake trailer, aka fan trailer, on YouTube. There are ones for sequels or new franchise entries that aren't being made (Henry Cavil and Margot Robbie in James Bond), some that place actors in shows they aren't appearing in (Leonardo DiCaprio in Squid Game season 3), and lots for real upcoming movies that have been stitched together from previous footage and AI clips. An example of the latter is a recent Superman trailer that tricked French national television into believing it was genuine. The fake trailers can receive views in the hundreds of thousands, millions, and even hundreds of millions, leaving many wondering why these clips are allowed to remain monetized. An investigation by Deadline discovered that instead of being hit with copyright strikes, several Hollywood studios ask YouTube to ensure the ad revenue generated by the videos flows in their direction. The fact that these fakes bring more publicity to the real movies and shows they are copying further dissuades IP owners from taking action. The makers say the clips aren't harmful, but exploiting actors without their permission and the use of AI has drawn the wrath of actors' union SAG-AFTRA. "Monetizing unauthorized, unwanted, and subpar uses of human-centered IP is a race to the bottom. It incentivizes technology companies and short-term gains at the expense of lasting human creative endeavor," the union said. It seems YouTube took notice of Deadline's report and the reaction to it. Just days after the investigation was published, the platform turned off ad revenue on Screen Culture and KH Studio, two of the biggest fan-trailer channels. YouTube has suspended its partnership program with the channels for violating monetization policies, cutting off the ad revenue they previously earned from the fake trailers and other similar videos they produce. YouTube's policies state that any creators borrowing material from others must "change it significantly to make it your own" in order for it to be monetized. Furthermore, the content must not be duplicative or repetitive and should not be made for the sole purpose of getting views. Anything manipulated or doctored in a way that misleads viewers isn't allowed either. KH Studio's founder told Deadline, "I've been running KH Studio full-time for over three years now, putting everything into it. It's tough to see it grouped under "misleading content" in the demonetization decision, when my goal has always been to explore creative possibilities - not to misrepresent real releases." Screen Culture founder Nikhil P. Chaudhari says that most people know his channel's creations are fan-made and fantasy, raising the question "What's the harm?"

YouTube punishes major fake movie trailer channels by disabling ad revenue

Fake movie trailers are everywhere on YouTube, but now action is finally being taken against some of them after it was publicly revealed that movie studios were cashing in on those videos. Last week, Deadline reported on movie studios using the rise of fake movie trailers - especially those leveraging AI - as a new source of revenue. Instead of getting those videos taken down, studios would instead ask YouTube to redirect the ad revenue from those videos to the studio. Deadline explained: Instead of enforcing copyright on counterfeit commercials, Deadline can reveal that a handful of Hollywood studios are asking YouTube to ensure that the ad revenue made from views flows in their direction. Quite why they are doing this is a mystery (all the majors approached by Deadline declined to comment), but it raises questions about their willingness to take cash for content that exploits their IP and talent, at a time when there is an existential crisis about how copyright collides with AI. Actors' union SAG-AFTRA describes our revelation as a "race to the bottom." Since that initial report, Deadline has confirmed that YouTube has turned off all ad revenue for two major sources of these fake trailers - Screen Culture (1.4 million subscribers) and KH Studio (685,000 subscribers). Both channels were apparently removed from the YouTube Partner Program "for violating monetization policies," specifically around not changing content enough from the source materials, for making videos that are "duplicative or repetitive," and making content for the "sole purpose of getting views." The article also cites YouTube's policy on misleading content. Screen Culture is known for splicing existing movie trailers with additional footage (often made with AI) to create a new video. The channel advertises that it posts new trailers "daily" and does indeed get repetitive. Within the past month alone, the channel has posted six different fake trailers for Marvel's Thunderbolts movie. KH Studio, meanwhile, produces similar videos under the idea of "what if" scenarios, as the channel's founder described to Deadline. KH Studio's founder said that it was "tough" to see the channel punished for "misleading content" when the "goal has always been to explore creative possibilities - not to misrepresent real releases." Screen Culture's founder, meanwhile, said "What's the harm?" in regards to viewers who are fooled by the channel's fake trailers. YouTube hasn't officially commented on either channel, but neither channel has stopped uploading new content.

Hollywood studios can't make money from AI-powered fake movie trailers on YouTube anymore

The crackdown comes amid new contracts and laws limiting unauthorized AI replicas If you've ever visited YouTube and clicked on a trailer for the next superhero film and thought it seemed too good to be true, well, you might have been right. Wishful thinking, clever editing, and a scoop of AI fakery produced clips enticing billions of clicks and earning plenty of cash through advertising. The shocking part is that a lot of that money apparently found its way to the very studios you might expect to try and shut down any such unauthorized use of their intellectual property, at least according to information uncovered recently by Deadline. That sidehustle may now be over with YouTube removing two of the biggest homes of these AI-laced fake trailers, Screen Culture and KH Studio, from its Partner Program. That means no more ad revenue for them or the studios reportedly getting a piece of the action. Screen Culture has made many popular trailers full of AI-generated shots for upcoming films like The Fantastic Four: First Steps and Superman. KH Studio is more famous for its imaginary casting, like Leonardo DiCaprio in the next Squid Game or Henry Cavill as the next James Bond. You would be forgiven for assuming the plotlines, characters, and visuals on display were teasing details of the films, but they were produced far from the real film development. The fakes were good enough to sometimes come up in searches before the real trailers, and enough clicks could prompt YouTube's recommendation algorithm to highlight the fakes above the real deal. That translates into a lot of cash for a monetized video. That's likely why, according to Deadline, studios made arrangements with YouTube to redirect the ad revenue from these fake trailers into their own accounts. Still, YouTube has its own rules. The monetization deal may have been okay in theory, but the channels broke other rules. For instance, to earn ad revenue, a creator can't just remix someone else's content; they need to add original elements. A reviewer might show a brief clip of a film to comment on it, but most of the video is the review, not the movie. You also can't copy others' work, mislead viewers, or make content for the "sole purpose of getting views." Screen Culture and KH Studio can appeal the demonetization, but that might be a long shot. YouTube's decision reflects a larger ongoing debate about AI in the entertainment industry. The SAG-AFTRA strike highlighted the demands of actors for limits and control of any AI replicas of people in film and TV. The final agreement reached following the long strike set out new rules for consent by a performer before any studio can use AI to mimic their likeness. In case that wasn't clear enough, California lawmakers passed two bills barring the use of AI to recreate a performer's voice or image without their consent, even posthumously. That makes it harder for studios or rogue creators to conjure digital versions of famous faces just to juice a trailer, real or otherwise. YouTube is somewhat stuck as fan-made trailers have long been a popular kind of content. Using AI, though, can make a fake trailer seem good enough to trick people, even if only by accident. And YouTube doesn't want to encourage the practice by monetizing it. For now, the message from YouTube is clear: you can imagine a world where Cavill is Bond or Galactus shows up in Fantastic Four, but you can't cash in on that fantasy if it's built only around AI.

How Movie Studios Cash In on Fake AI Movie 'Trailers' on YouTube

In recent years, YouTube has become a breeding ground for AI-generated fake movie trailers, flooding the platform with misleading yet captivating content. These videos, which often combine snippets of legitimate footage with AI-generated visuals, have amassed billions of views. But instead of clamping down on these copyright-infringing videos, major Hollywood studios have opted for a different approach: monetizing them. According to a Deadline report, the studios struck a deal with YouTube to redirect ad revenue from these misleading trailers, treating the situation more like a business opportunity than a violation of intellectual property. One of the most infamous examples is a fake trailer for the upcoming Superman reboot, which even duped French national television. The video features AI-crafted scenes of David Corenswet's Superman and Nicholas Hoult's Lex Luthor. When director James Gunn caught wind of the fake trailer, he responded with a trio of vomiting emojis -- perhaps unaware that Warner Bros. Discovery, the studio behind the film, was quietly profiting from the very trailer that upset him. Following Deadline's exposé, popular YouTube channel Screen Culture, a purveyor of AI-generated trailers, was removed from YouTube's Partner Program. A representative from KH Studio, another popular creator, expressed frustration over being labeled misleading despite only aiming to create "what if" scenarios. "I've been running KH Studio full-time for over three years now, putting everything into it," they say per Engadget. "It's tough to see it grouped under 'misleading content' in the demonetization decision, when my goal has always been to explore creative possibilities -- not to misrepresent real releases." The saga raises a troubling question: Why would studios allow AI-generated slop to proliferate alongside authentic trailers, blurring the line for casual viewers? SAG-AFTRA, the actors' union, condemned the practice as a "race to the bottom." The rise of AI-generated trailers is not new; fake movie previews have existed since YouTube's early days. VJ4rawr2, a pioneer of the genre, created viral hits like Titanic 2: Jack's Back and imaginative mashups featuring Leonardo DiCaprio in Squid Game. But AI has industrialized the practice, enabling channels like Screen Culture to churn out concept trailers on an assembly line. According to Deadline, Screen Culture's founder, Nikhil P. Chaudhari, turned his passion for video editing into a business, producing content that blurs the line between fan-made fun and professional marketing. With a team of editors and the help of tools like Midjourney and ElevenLabs, Chaudhari creates trailers that often rank higher in YouTube's search results than official studio releases. While Chaudhari argues that the videos promote the movies, the studios' willingness to collect revenue from misleading content raises ethical questions. The relationship between AI-generated trailers and copyright enforcement remains murky. Warner Bros. Discovery, Sony, and Paramount have quietly claimed ad revenue from these videos instead of issuing copyright strikes. Yet, inconsistencies abound -- some infringing videos are flagged, while others remain untouched. Even Amazon and Disney have been selective in enforcing copyright on these AI imitations. For now, the fate of AI-generated trailers on YouTube remains uncertain. The technology isn't going away, and neither are the creators eager to use it.

'Titanic 2'? YouTube is cracking down on AI-assisted fake movie trailers that fetch millions of views

A trailer for Avatar: Fire and Ash, the third film in James Cameron's galactically successful series, starts by delivering on the title's promise. Rivers of lava cascade through the forests of Pandora, reducing it to charred rubble. Soon, the score swells to epic proportions as the hulking, Smurf-colored Na'vi survey their ruined territory and swear vengeance on an unseen enemy. Released back in January, this trailer already has 3.5 million views. Not bad, considering it contains not one second of footage from the actual film. Whenever Cameron and 20 Century Studios do release the official first trailer for Avatar: Fire and Ash, which is headed to theaters in December, they certainly won't release it through "KH Studio," one of two video channels YouTube just demonetized to crack down on a larger issue. The fake Avatar trailer, which relies on some truly abysmal AI, is part of a scourge of similar videos designed to trick movie lovers into thinking they've found a first look at an upcoming flick. Crafty editors with access to Adobe Premiere take existing footage from previous media, splice in a dash of AI, and -- voilà -- a steady stream of clicks and views from eager film buffs. Google any major movie coming out later this year, and whether an actual trailer for it is already out there or not, the search will surface an impostor or two. Want a fake first glimpse of Edgar Wright's upcoming reboot of The Running Man? It's available on a channel called T Studio Movie's (sic). How about a pirated preview of the next Conjuring movie? It can be conjured up on one called Skynet Studios. The most successful operators out there, though, appear to be the two that have newly attracted YouTube's ire: KH Studio and Screen Culture.

Movie studios are allegedly cashing in from "AI slop" trailers

Fake movie trailers are nothing new, but when once you would see an awkward cut between Nick Fury in the Avengers and Godzilla to try and make it look like the two were about to fight, now image-generation technology can make something much more easily. KH Studio and Screen Culture are two of the biggest names in the fake movie trailer game right now, with Nikhil P. Chaudhari being the man behind the latter channel. He spoke with Deadline about his AI creations, which he claims have made him millions. He also said that he has multiple editors working under him to pump out a dozen videos in a week. Deadline also reported that rather than strike the channels making these videos, Warner Bros. and Sony are apparently requesting that YouTube send the revenue in their direction. The latest development has seen YouTube suspend monetization on both Screen Culture and KH Studio, due to violating the site's policies. YouTube has declined to comment on the matter, but the head of KH Studio believes this is unfair, as his content is based more around what ifs, such as a Squid Game season starring Leonardo DiCaprio. "I've been running KH Studio full-time for over three years now, putting everything into it. It's tough to see it grouped under 'misleading content' in the demonetization decision, when my goal has always been to explore creative possibilities - not to misrepresent real releases," they said. What do you think about fake AI trailers and have you ever been fooled by one?