Demon Hunter sued Netflix on Tuesday over the name KPop Demon Hunters, saying the title of the streaming giant’s hit film has created substantial confusion and crossed into trademark infringement and unfair competition. The lawsuit, filed by Hyde Lane, also names Netflix Studios and AEG Presents.
The filing asks a court to stop Netflix from using the KPop Demon Hunters name for recorded music, live performances and merchandise, and it seeks unspecified damages. That matters now because the film did not land as a passing release: after arriving on Netflix in summer 2025, it became a runaway hit and the most-watched original film in the service’s history, with soundtrack and merchandise built around the property.
Demon Hunter is a 25-year-old Christian metal band that says it has been releasing albums, touring and selling merchandise for a quarter-century. It says the clash is not abstract. One person spent $500 on top-tier tickets for a Demon Hunter concert in Albany, New York, believing the tickets were for a KPop Demon Hunters show, and later said they could not afford tickets to the actual show if the refund was denied. The band also says a television producer approached its management under the mistaken belief it was connected to the film, while social media users have incorrectly tagged the group in posts about it.
The problem for Netflix is that the title is not just the name of a movie. KPop Demon Hunters centers on Huntrix, a music trio that hunts demons, and the company has already registered the title as a trademark for several merchandise uses. Additional Netflix trademark applications are still pending. Demon Hunter’s company, by contrast, registered its own mark for recorded music and merchandise in 2022 and has also applied for protection tied to live music.
That overlap is where the case will turn. Courts usually ask whether consumers are likely to be confused by the way a mark is used, not whether two names can peacefully coexist in the abstract. Here, the band wants protection not only against merchandise use but also against the name’s use in recorded music and live performances, the very areas where its own business has been built. Netflix’s first-look deal with Sony Pictures and the film’s breakneck success make the commercial stakes obvious, but they do not automatically decide the trademark question.
The next step is a ruling on whether Netflix can keep using the title across those categories while the case moves forward. If the court sees the name as creating the kind of consumer confusion Demon Hunter describes, the title could face limits beyond the movie itself. If not, Netflix may keep expanding a brand that already includes a sequel and other projects under discussion.
