Fans Celebrate After Google Kills 2 of the Biggest Fake Movie Trailer Channels on YouTube

YouTube has taken down two of its largest channels known for producing fake movie trailers.

Deadline revealed that both Screen Culture and KH Studio, whose combined videos have amassed billions of views, are now inactive. Searching for either channel yields the same notice:

This page isn't available. Sorry about that. Try searching for something else.

Screen Culture and KH Studio garnered millions of subscribers and billions of views by creating fake trailers that often deceived fans into believing they were official releases. With the rise of generative AI, these trailers became more sophisticated and harder to distinguish from real ones.

Both channels gained notoriety online after years of releasing fictional trailers for highly anticipated films or those awaiting their first official teaser. As expected, the Marvel Cinematic Universe was a frequent target, with some fan-made trailers even outperforming official releases on YouTube.

Following Google's decision to demonetize both channels, they added disclaimers like "fan trailer," "concept trailer," and "parody" in an attempt to restore revenue streams. However, as Deadline noted, this effort was short-lived, leading to their latest removal.

This crackdown follows shortly after Disney sent a cease-and-desist letter to Google, accusing the tech giant of massive copyright infringement by using its content to train generative AI models. Despite licensing many iconic characters to OpenAI and investing $1 billion in Sora 2 and ChatGPT's developer, Disney has been vocal about protecting its intellectual property.

Online reactions have largely been positive. "Finally," commented one Reddit user. "I've tried so hard to block these two from my feed. Great news!" Another added, "Great, now can they shut down channels pumping AI slop into kids' feeds?" A third noted, "Definitely glad it's gone. It was getting hard to find real trailers."

While fake movie trailers plague YouTube, video games face similar issues. Last month, an AI-generated leak of GTA 6 gameplay went viral, misleading fans across social platforms. After facing backlash, the creator removed the video and admitted it was AI-created, claiming it was part of a larger social experiment.

Generative AI has led to a surge in deceptive videos online as the technology becomes more accessible. This issue spans all entertainment sectors. Last month, IGN reported that physicist Brian Cox complained about YouTube accounts using AI deepfakes of him discussing comet 3I/ATLAS with nonsensical claims. Similarly, Keanu Reeves criticized unauthorized AI deepfakes selling products in his likeness, stating it was "not a lot of fun." In July, reports emerged that Reeves pays thousands monthly to have TikTok and Meta remove AI imitators.