The Biz: Olivia Rodrigo, Ticketmaster Battle Scalpers; Sony Sues Kroger; Metal Band Sues AEG, Netflix Over ‘Kpop Demon Hunters’

Ticketmaster canceled a swath of tickets for Olivia Rodrigo’s upcoming “The Unraveled Tour” and relisted them at their original price.

The move appears to be related to a violation of the resale policy attached to the tickets.

The relisted tickets “are ticket purchases that broke the rules of the sales and are being released directly back to fans, at the original prices set by the tour,” the ticketer wrote on Instagram.

Ticketmaster did not say how many tickets were relisted, nor for which shows.

During Oasis’ reunion tour, Ticketmaster clawed back as many as 50,000 tickets that had been listed with markup on secondary sites. Rodrigo’s tours have frequently attempted to battle scalpers. On her last tour, tickets were not electronically delivered until 72 hours before showtime and her Silver Star program offers limited $25 tickets with the condition that buyers will not know where they are.

Sony Sues Kroger

Sony Music Entertained filed a massive suit in a California federal court alleging that Kroger and its numerous subsidiaries have been using the giant’s music in promotional social media posts without authorization.

SME, like other labels, have an entire library of pre-cleared music clips for TikTok and other platforms that allow for personal use, but the company alleges Kroger’s use is clearly commercial and not covered by the license.

Sony says it informed Kroger of offending posts as early as June 2025, but the grocer did not correct the behavior, citing hundreds of violations.

“Sony Music’s investigation is ongoing,” the 68-page complaint reads, in part, “and there are undoubtedly additional infringing videos Sony Music has yet to discover, including content made available for only a limited time on features such as Instagram Stories, Snapchat, TikTok Stories, and the like – platforms and features the Kroger Parties use for social media marketing.”

Demon Hunter Sues AEG, Netflix Over ‘Kpop Demon Hunters’

Christian metal band Demon Hunter is suing AEG and Netflix over the wildly popular “Kpop Demon Hunters” film (and announced tour).

The band alleges that the name is already causing confusion, citing a woman who spent $500 on tickets for a concert in Albany, New York, believing it was connected to the Netflix series.

“Simply put, Netflix is no more entitled to use the mark KPOP DEMON HUNTERS than it would be to launch a recording artist, live touring show, and merchandise under the marks KPOP METALLICA, KPOP U2 or KPOP BLACK SABBATH,” the suit, filed in a California federal court, reads, in part.

With AEG’s recent announcement of a “Kpop Demon Hunters” tour, the infringement, Demon Hunter’s corporation Hyde Lane Inc. says, is more acute.

“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,” the complaint says. “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.”

Hyde Lane is seeking damages “in an amount not yet discernible,” a bar on the use of the name and impoundment of infringing goods and merchandise.