Christian Metal Band DEMON HUNTER Sues NETFLIX Over 'KPop Demon Hunters' Trademark

Christian metal band DEMON HUNTER has filed a lawsuit against Netflix and AEG Presents, alleging trademark infringement and unfair competition over the use of the "KPop Demon Hunters" name.

According to Complex, the group, through its corporation Hyde Lane, filed a trademark lawsuit on Tuesday (August 18) in the Central District of California against Netflix, Netflix Studios and live events promoter AEG Presents, accusing the companies of "jealously guard[ing] and enforc[ing] their own intellectual property rights" while "willfully disregarding the rights of others in pursuit of profits."

DEMON HUNTER, which was formed nearly a quarter century ago and has released a dozen studio albums, wrote in the complaint: "DEMON HUNTER [is] a well- known and celebrated metal band. DEMON HUNTER was formed at the turn of the century and, in the quarter-century since, it has consistently released albums, toured, and sold merchandise to a large and dedicated audience. Unfortunately, in 2025, Netflix and Netflix Studios — despite almost certainly being aware of DEMON HUNTER — chose to release a movie titled 'KPop Demon Hunters' … [which] reached unprecedented levels of success, not only as a film on Netflix's streaming service, but also via the 'KPop Demon Hunters' movie soundtrack album and merchandise."

Referencing Netflix's partnership with AEG to launch the "KPop Demon Hunters" world concert tour, which is coming in 2027 with 150 cities mapped out, DEMON HUNTER's lawsuit added: "In short, in just a year's time, Defendants have taken step after step to move into almost complete overlap with the goods and services offered by Hyde Lane under the DEMON HUNTER mark. As a result of their adoption and exploitation of the 'KPop Demon Hunters' brand, which is confusingly similar to senior user Hyde Lane's established DEMON HUNTER mark, junior users Netflix, Netflix Studios, and AEG have created a substantial likelihood of confusion (and, indeed, actual confusion has already resulted),leading consumers to believe the parties' goods or services are affiliated, sponsored, or otherwise connected with one another."

The filing alleges that the similarity between "KPop Demon Hunters" and DEMON HUNTER's has created "a substantial likelihood of confusion" and that "actual confusion has already resulted", with consumers allegedly believing the businesses are affiliated or connected.

"Even more devastatingly, by leveraging their superior resources and reach, Defendants can, and do, eclipse Hyde Lane's DEMON HUNTER marks in the marketplace and effectively misappropriate the marks' source-identifying significance," the lawsuit added. "Thus, Defendants' greater size and strength overwhelms Hyde Lane's established identity, causing consumers to perceive Hyde Lane as affiliated with, sponsored by, or derived from Defendants and denuding Hyde Lane of power over its commercial fate."

The band said it had "established the mark first and invested in the goodwill associated with it for decades," describing itself as the "senior user".

The complaint added: "The brand that Hyde Lane has carefully built over the course of the past quarter century now faces an existential crisis, thereby necessitating the filing of this action and the granting of the requested relief from this Court."

DEMON HUNTER has asked the court to stop Netflix using the "KPop Demon Hunters" name for recorded music, live shows and merchandise, and to award unspecified damages.

Last September, DEMON HUNTER released its twelfth studio album, "There Was A Light Here", via the band's own Weapons MFG label. The record was produced by frontman Ryan Clark and guitarist Jeremiah Scott, mixed and mastered by Chris "Zeuss" Harris (ROB ZOMBIE, HATEBREED, SUFFOCATION),except for the title track, which was mixed by Eric Stenman (AWOLNATION, THRICE, DEFTONES).

DEMON HUNTER has been a defining force in heavy music since emerging in 2002, helping lay the groundwork for modern metalcore. They've released a number of Billboard 200-charting albums, including two No. 1 Independent Albums, and six Top 5 Hard Rock Albums. They have 350,000 monthly listeners on Spotify.

Directed by Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans, "KPop Demon Hunters" follows the global K-pop sensation HUNTR/X (Rummi, Mira and Zoey),who lead secret double lives as elite demon hunters dedicated to protecting their fans from supernatural threats. The film, which premiered in late June 2025 on Netflix, became the streamer's most popular English-language film of all time. The film's soundtrack received five Grammy nominations, and its record-breaking song "Golden" took home the Oscar for "Best Original Song" at the 98th Academy Awards.

Photo credit: Tyler Byars