The scheme operated similarly to a protection racket. Instead of enforcing copyright on these videos, Hollywood studios made a deal with YouTube to receive the ad revenue, rather than the individuals who created the content using minimal editing and prompts.

One of the most notable examples is a fake trailer for the upcoming Superman reboot. This trailer even deceived French national television, prompting director James Gunn to post three puking emojis on X. However, he was likely unaware that Warner Bros. Discovery was one of the companies earning money from these low-quality imitations.

A question arises as to why major film studios would allow their brands to be diluted by AI-generated nonsense. After all, these fake trailers coexist with actual teasers and have been proven to confuse viewers. Although we don’t have exact financial figures, the videos have amassed billions of views. Perhaps this is sufficient for short-sighted companies. The actors’ union, SAG-AFTRA, has termed this phenomenon a “race to the bottom.”

However, the lucrative opportunity has come to an end. YouTube has halted ad revenue for these types of videos, likely as a result of Deadline’s reporting. Popular channels that distribute this content, such as Screen Culture, have been removed from the partner program. Consequently, no one will profit from a slightly-off Leonardo DiCaprio navigating through a season of Squid Game.

The affected channels can appeal YouTube’s decision. The founder of KH Studio, which has garnered hundreds of millions of views, claimed they never intended to deceive viewers, but rather create “what-if” scenarios.

“I’ve been running KH Studio full-time for over three years, investing everything into it. It’s disheartening to see it categorized as ‘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 receive a response. With over 1.4 million subscribers and 1,800 videos, the channel has likely created a fake trailer for almost everything, including over 20 AI-generated trailers for the upcoming Marvel film Fantastic Four: First Steps.