'KPop Demon Hunters' Is Being Sued by a Christian Metal Band

KPop Demon Hunters has been a non-stop powerhouse for over a year now, so frankly, I’m amazed it’s taken this long for lawsuits to start sniffing around for money to shake loose. In this case, Netflix is being sued by the Christian metal band Demon Hunter, and well, you can kind of see the confusion here.

Demon Hunter has been around since the year 2000, and please, don’t ask me how I know. I spent some time in this scene in the late ’90s, and thankfully, a college education cleared that right up. Anyway, at issue is the fact that KPop Demon Hunters has expanded into live shows, specifically the KPop Demon Hunters World Tour. That has led to all kinds of mayhem like people buying tickets for Demon Hunter only to realize it’s not the show their kid likes.

Via Complex:

The complaint describes the confusion running in both directions: consumers may wrongly attribute the defendants’ products to the band, while Netflix’s vastly larger marketplace presence could lead fans to perceive Demon Hunter itself as somehow affiliated with or derived from the hit film.

As an example, they include in the filing an email from a person who spent $500 on top-tier tickets to a Demon Hunter concert in Albany, New York, mistakenly thinking that they’d be taking their 5 and 6-year old girls to a Kpop Demon Hunters show.

“Is their [sic] anyway to refund me or get me a credit or something[?]” the person asked. “If I dont get it refunded I will not be able to purchase tickets to the actual ‘K pop demon hunters show’.”

While that confusion is entirely understandable, Demon Hunter is reportedly seeking a jury trial and “that Netflix be prevented from using the KPop Demon Hunters name.” The band also seeks “restitution and treble damages,” which I’m not a lawyer, but seems like the real goal here. And, hey, maybe they’re entitled to that.

Demon Hunter claims to have an established trademark with over 20 years of use that Netflix ran roughshod over. I’m not in the business of defending Christian anything, but it does seem like some sort of relief wouldn’t be unreasonable. Especially considering Netflix probably doesn’t want to abandon the name of one of its biggest hits. This thing made it to the Oscars, so I won’t be surprised if this is quietly settled with a tidy check.

More importantly, it’s kind of nice that this lawsuit was about a run of the mill trademark dispute, and not batsh*t accusations like women should be making babies for Jesus, not fighting demons through the power of song and sick swords. You gotta take the little wins these days.