Christian metal band Demon Hunter has taken legal action against Netflix, alleging trademark infringement due to the streaming service’s popular movie, KPop Demon Hunters. The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California on August 18, 2026, claims that the film’s title is too similar to the band’s name, which is a registered trademark owned by Hyde Lane Inc., the parent company of Demon Hunter.
According to the complaint, the band, founded by brothers Ryan Clark and Don Clark in Seattle in 2000, has released 13 albums and achieved significant success, selling the equivalent of one million albums when factoring in streaming numbers. Their latest album, There Was a Light Here, was released in 2025.
Netflix’s KPop Demon Hunters, released in June 2025, tells the story of Huntrix, a K-pop girl group who also engage in demon hunting. The film has become Netflix’s most-watched movie, amassing over 325.1 million views by March, as reported by the company.
Demon Hunter claims that since the release of KPop Demon Hunters, there have been instances of confusion where individuals have mistaken the band for the movie. For example, the complaint mentions an incident in February where a parent requested a concert ticket refund, mistakenly believing they had purchased tickets to a show by KPop Demon Hunters.
The band’s parent company also received an email from a producer at Inside Edition seeking an interview with “Yu-Han Lee,” mistakenly assuming he was a member of Demon Hunter. In reality, Yu Han Lee is a songwriter who won the 2026 Academy Award for best original song for his work in KPop Demon Hunters.
Furthermore, social media users have incorrectly used the hashtag #DemonHunter when referring to KPop Demon Hunters, contributing to the alleged confusion. The complaint emphasizes that Netflix’s use of the term KPop Demon Hunters infringes on Demon Hunter’s trademark rights.
While the band’s lawyer, John Tehranian, declined to comment on the matter, Netflix issued a statement to CBC News expressing its intention to contest the lawsuit, asserting that the claims are unfounded. The company emphasized the global success of KPop Demon Hunters and its impact on fans worldwide, vowing to defend the case vigorously.