YouTube shut down two major channels, Screen Culture and KH Studio, which used AI to create fake movie trailers. Together, they had over 2 million subscribers and 1 billion views.
YouTube has shut down two popular channels that used AI to create and publish fake movie trailers. The two channels, 'Screen Culture' and 'KH Studio,' had a combined subscriber base of over 2 million and views of over 1 billion.
YouTube Shuts Down Channels Using AI To Create Fake Movie Trailers
YouTube bans two popular channels that created fake AI movie trailers - Ars Technica
https://arstechnica.com/google/2025/12/youtube-bans-two-popular-channels-that-created-fake-ai-movie-trailers/
YouTube Terminates 2 Channels Over Fake AI Movie Trailers
https://www.thewrap.com/industry-news/tech/youtube-terminates-screen-culture-kh-studio-over-ai-fake-movie-trailers/
'Screen Culture' and 'KH Studio' are YouTube channels based in India and Georgia, respectively. Both channels distribute fake AI-generated trailers, with Screen Culture having over 1.4 million subscribers and KH Studio having over 680,000.
According to a Deadline investigation, Screen Culture created fake trailers by splicing official footage with AI-generated images, fooling many YouTube users. According to Screen Culture founder Nikhil P. Chaudhary, the channel employed 12 editors who used AI to create the fake trailers, and constantly edited the videos to exploit YouTube's algorithm.
For example, by March 2025, Screen Culture had produced 23 versions of the trailer for ' Fantastic Four: The First Step ,' some of which had more views than the official trailer in YouTube search results. Other fake trailers were also released for popular shows like HBO 's new Harry Potter series and Netflix's ' Wednesday .'
Deadline's investigation also revealed that some Hollywood studios, including Warner Bros. Discovery and Sony, were taking down fake AI-generated trailers for copyright infringement in exchange for collecting advertising revenue from the videos.
There are cases where movie companies are earning advertising revenue from fake trailers made by AI without removing them for copyright infringement - GIGAZINE
YouTube has announced that it will stop monetizing Screen Culture and KH Studio at the end of March 2025 as a measure against fake AI-generated trailers.
YouTube channel with 1.4 million subscribers that posts fake movie trailers using AI will be monetized - GIGAZINE
Following the monetization ban, these channels added words such as 'fan trailer,' 'parody,' and 'concept trailer' to the titles of their videos to clarify that the videos they were distributing were not genuine trailers. This has allowed both channels to successfully regain monetization.
However, over the past few months, these monetization measures have again disappeared from video titles, raising concerns from the fan-made trailer and other enjoyment communities.
Now, YouTube has finally decided to shut down both channels. At the time of writing, Screen Culture and KH Studio have been shut down, and accessing either channel simply displays the following message: 'This page is unavailable. Sorry. Please search for something else.'
YouTube explained that it shut down the Screen Culture and KH Studio channels because they violated its policies regarding spam and misleading metadata. In other words, YouTube determined that the two channels violated its policies by removing words that indicated the videos were 'fake trailers.'
Regarding the closure of Screen Culture and KH Studio's channels, one YouTuber told Deadline, 'The monster has been defeated.'
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