After more than two decades, the creator of Paint.NET finally owns the domain paint.net, and it’s all thanks to a ‘slam dunk case of trademark infringement’

Paint.NET is one of the best free tools on the Internet, a Photoshop-like program that comes with much of the functionality of Adobe’s software without the foreboding sense that you’re selling your soul, while also being more user-friendly than similar tools like GIMP. However, there has always been one slight oddity about the program’s existence.

Despite the program’s suggestive name, you couldn’t actually download Paint.NET via the domain paint.net. Since its launch in 2004, Paint.NET has been hosted on a different site, getpaint.net. But that’s all about to change. After more than two decades of trying, the creator of Paint.NET has finally acquired its domain namesake.

“I got the domain! I finally got it!” Paint.NET creator Rick Brewster posted exuberantly on Bluesky on Friday. “I’ve been trying to get this domain for 22 years” he wrote in the follow-up thread, describing the event as “A big fucking deal.”

Following his celebratory announcement, Brewster proceeded to explain the events that led to him acquiring the domain. “The previous owners would not sell,” he wrote. “And/or they wanted lots and lots of money.”

I GOT THE DOMAIN! I FINALLY GOT IT!!!!!!!!!!1 🥳🎉Paint​.NET is now at paint.net! Well, it will be just as soon as I push all the buttons to migrate content and set up redirects from getpaint​.net etc. For now it’s just a “hey go here” redirect page.

— @rickbrew.bsky.social (@rickbrew.bsky.social.bsky.social) 2026-05-30T15:43:35.643Z

This stalemate between Brewster and the site’s various owners has been going on for longer than Half-Life 2 has been playable. However, it finally ended due to some unwise business decisions from the domain’s most recent owner. “In December, the latest (previous) owner started hosting content that was all about Paint.NET, trying to deceive users into thinking it was the official website.” Brewster explained. This included things like dodgy links and ads, all of which amounted to the owner profiting from Brewster’s registered trademark.

Consequently, Brewster says the situation became a “slam dunk case of trademark infringement and domain squatting.” Brewster enlisted the help of a lawyer, and bingo, the domain was his.

While Brewster is now the official owner of paint.net, its eponymous software is, at the time of writing, still not available to download directly from the site. This is because Brewster is yet to “push all the buttons to migrate content and set up redirects” from the previous site.

For now, paint.net simply refers viewers to getpaint.net, where they can download Paint.NET. Nonetheless, it does feel like some divine justice has been served here, and I for one approve of this digital alignment.