If you buy a domain from a squatter, you encourage domain squatting. Domains are not that important as most browsers send the url to a search engine. So just register brand-name.com instead of brandname.com. Or pick another TLD.
https://moz.com/community/q/hyphens-in-domain-name
edit: here's a better article actually on it - https://moz.com/blog/how-to-choose-a-domain-name-whiteboard-...
I would never, ever recommend settling for a hyphenated domain name.