By Mallory Mattingly
YouTube has taken further action against fake movie trailers, suspending the ad revenue of two channels who generate that kind of content.
After an investigation by Deadline, YouTube “has suspended ad revenue on Screen Trailers and Royal Trailer, two alternative accounts run by the creators behind Screen Culture and KH Studio.”
Screen Culture and KH Studios were suspended in March, Deadline explained, calling them “two of the most prolific purveyors of concept trailers, which rely heavily on AI to drive engagement and, in some cases, fool users into believing the videos are authentic.”
These fake trailers often splice together clips of actors from other projects or AI-generated footage, PC Gamer said.
“Our enforcement decisions, including suspensions from the YouTube partner program, apply to all channels that may be owned or operated by the impacted creator,” YouTube said in a statement about Screen Trailers’ and Royal Trailer’s suspensions.
The founder of KH Studio, which runs Royal Trailer, spoke with Deadline in March and revealed that the intentions of the fake trailers are for viewers to fantasize about “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,” the founder said.
Deadline also found through the investigation that instead of flagging the channels for copyright, several Hollywood studios like Warner Bros. Discovery and Sony claimed “ad revenue on Screen Culture trailers.” The trailers also helped generate hype for the real movies.
Related: YouTube’s Ad Revenue Surges 14% in Q4, Boosted by U.S. Election Spending
“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,” SAG-AFTRA said of the studios making money off of fake movie trailers.
YouTube’s monetization policies emphasizes that “content should be original and authentic.”
That means the content should be an “original creation. If you borrow content from someone else, you need to change it significantly to make it your own.” The content should also “not be duplicative or repetitive. Your content should be made for the enjoyment or education of viewers, rather than for the sole purpose of getting views.”
This crackdown on false movie trailers shows, once again, that AI-generated content is everywhere. Suspending Screen Trailers’ and Royal Trailer’s ad revenue will hopefully help curb the proliferation of fake content.
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