this post was submitted on 19 Aug 2026
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This seems like a stretch. The MOVIE had a similar name to the BAND. Remember in 2013 when a movie came out literally called "Rush"? Geddy Lee didn't take Ron Howard to court. Trademarks do not transcend all trades/media. Nintendo has a line of Demon Hunter games. D&D has a class Demon Hunter.
Using search results as the basis is borderline nonsense. Apply that logic to say, a disaster. "Ever since the town of Metallica exploded our search results are down, so we're taking them to court!" Nonsense. How about science? "Since it was announced comet KMFDM, a name derived using some standard naming convention, was announced to be slamming into earth next year, our search results are way down!". TRADEmark, not OWNTHEWORDSmark.
The KPop band is called HUNTR/X. If they had been called Demon Hunters then yeah, probably a case.
obligatory upvote for mentioning Rush, i.e. greatest F1 movie ever made
If you read the article, it’s NOT about the movie at all.
It’s about the fact that Netflix and AEG are running live concerts under the event name “Kpop Demon Hunters”. NOT the band HUNTR/X.
And the actual band Demon Hunter has evidence that people bought tickets to their show thinking it was the Netflix live show, then requested refunds because of the confusion
So… yeah they do have a case. The live shows are running under the name Demon Hunters, directly confusing people with the actual band Demon Hunter. Especially parents that aren’t really familiar with either, but just want to buy tickets for their kids. Which they say they have direct evidence of people buying tickets then requesting refunds because they were confused about the name.
Sorry, would it make you feel better if I explicitly add EVENT next to MOVIE? The EVENT is named after the MOVIE. Neither of which are the BAND. TRADEmark, not OWNTHEWORDSmark.
confusion is what trademark law is supposed to prevent. it applies here.
But also you can't just trademark common phrases.
The nature of trademark means they have to try to protect it, but it might just be too generic to protect.
Aw did you get offended because you didn’t even bother to read the article?
The trademark applies to live music concerts using the name. Which is exactly what Netflix is violating.
Reading further into this, they arent suing over the music concert, "The metal band have asked the court to stop Netflix using the KPop Demon Hunters name for recorded music, live shows and merchandise, and to award unspecified damages." (The linked article is a summary of the real article, and so is missing things.)
By adding recorded music and merchandise as a main basis for this lawsuit, over a year after the movie, recorded music, and merchandise was released, sold, and popularized (and before their newest album in September 2025) does make this seem more like a cash grab now. Had they done this maybe last year, closer towards when they released their album and started the tour of that album, I would be more sympathetic towards them, but it now feels like they rode the popularity of Kpop Demon Hunters and now want a second helping of cash.
And there are other bands that have similar issues. Slipknot (Mu Metal band) and Slipknot (country band), Travis (Scottish rock band) and Travis Scott (rapper), etc... yet they seem to survive just fine.
Sometimes you can just issue a lawsuit and collect on the nuisance value alone. Sort of a get-rich-quick secret of the pharaohs. If you have a lawyer in pocket and your time is less valuable than their money, filing in a friendly court with a plausible case can be worth five or six figures easy. The defense attorneys will cost more than that anyway.
For the next-level shit, go check out how the Westboro Baptist Church makes money. They effectively thrive on lawsuits by being as annoying as possible and then filing claims against anyone who takes a swing at them.