YouTube has begun cracking down on channels that generate fake movie trailers. The tech giant has taken action against two popular channels, Screen Culture and KH Studio, following an investigation from the media outlet Deadline. These channels, which used artificial intelligence and edited footage, have been removed from YouTube's Partner Program, stopping their ability to earn ad revenue.
The investigation showed that these channels had tricked viewers with trailers for movies that didn’t exist or weren’t officially announced. Examples included a Superman trailer that fooled French TV and a James Bond trailer featuring actors not involved in the franchise. While misleading, these videos gained millions of views. Some of these also title their trailers as "official" even though it is anything but.
"AI slop" is a big problem on the internet these days as AI-generated content is cranked out in huge amounts to farm views and ad revenue.
Deadline also reported that some movie studios benefited from the fake trailers. Instead of taking them down, studios purportedly requested that ad revenue from these videos be redirected to their own accounts. In its report, Deadline writes:
Our deep dive revealed that instead of protecting copyright on these videos, a handful of Hollywood studios, including Warner Bros. Discovery and Sony, are secretly asking YouTube to ensure that the ad revenue from the AI-heavy videos flows in their direction. The studios declined to comment.
If the allegation is true, it seems like WB and Sony wanted to have their cakes and eat them too, as they did not want the viewership from such channels to stop while at the same time enjoying the revenue they generated.
YouTube’s guidelines for creators does not allow content that is repetitive, misleading, or designed to manipulate views and thus it makes sense why YouTube decided to go with this. The creators of Screen Culture and KH Studio can still appeal against YouTube's decision.
Source: Deadline
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