Netflix wins KPop Demon Hunters domain name after failing to register it

By now, everyone knows Netflix has a hit on its hands with KPop Demon Hunters. The animated Netflix film has broken streaming records and won awards for both the movie itself and its chart-topping soundtrack.

KPop Demon Hunters are everywhere right now. Well, almost everywhere. If one were looking for KPop Demon Hunters on the internet, many might be inclined to check out the URL KPopDemonHunters.com. Huntrix fans going to that web address, though, will not find anything there.

That's because up until now, Netflix didn't even own the domain name KPopDemonHunters.com. In fact, it was originally registered three whole days after the film was released on June 20, 2025 by an individual in Germany. Did Netflix really not have any idea how big this movie was going to be?

How Netflix got the KPop Demon Hunters domain

Netflix recently won the KPopDemonHunters.com domain name from that individual in Germany named Sanchit Sood after filing a trademark dispute, as first reported by the domain news outlet Domain Name Wire.

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, better known as ICANN, is the organization that maintains the global domain name space. Under ICANN's rules, individuals and companies can file disputes over domain names under the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP). 

When a UDRP case is filed, the complainant must prove the domain name is confusingly similar to their trademark, there is no legitimate interest from the registrant, and the registration was made in bad faith. The registrant can then present their case before an arbitration panel, which makes the final decision.

Trademark owners don't always win these cases. There are legitimate reasons why a registrant can own a domain name, like if the trademark is generic enough. Even in this case where KPop Demon Hunters is extremely specific, a registrant could have bought the domain name for other fair use cases like a fan site or to criticize the film (panels can still decide in favor of the trademark holder even in these cases too).

However, in this specific case, the registrant did not even reply to the UDRP dispute, leaving the sole panelist on the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) panel for this case with just Netflix's argument. With all these considerations taken into account, including the fact that the domain name did not even redirect to a website, this appeared like a clear-cut case of cybersquatting a trademark domain name. The panelist ruled in Netflix's favor, and the registrar where KPopDemonHunters.com was registered has or will transfer the domain to Netflix.

And with that, the trademark dispute over KPopDemonHunters.com is done, done, done.