Rapper and producer Tyler, The Creator, is being sued in federal court in Texas for using a decades-old picture of a dearly departed dog without permission. A photo of a lively Airedale Terrier, Bliss, mid-leap at a 1997 agility show, an image now said to have been appropriated for Tyler's Golf le Fleur clothing line and collaborations with brands like Louis Vuitton and Converse.
Anne Barlow and Joy Radabaugh filed the suit, claiming Radabaugh took the image of her dog, Bliss, at a dog show that summer and commercially reproduced it without proper credit, license, or permission. Barlow, a well-regarded breeder of Airedale terriers, had bought the photo of her dog from Radabaugh and cherished it for decades, with the photo framed on her nightstand as a token of a departed pet, the lawsuit alleges.
"This was not a random photo," said a lawyer for the plaintiffs, Casey Griffith. "It just sort of stopped that moment in time," and displayed the energy and former loyalty of Bliss, a dog who had meant the world to Barlow. Suddenly finding it emblazoned on T-shirts and merchandise, attached to a global fashion brand, was a shock."
The image was first seen in public as a design worn on a T-shirt in Tyler's 2023 Dogtooth music video. It's since appeared on various Golf le Fleur products, a few pieces created in partnership with the heavy hitters Louis Vuitton and Converse. Although the image had found new life on the runway, neither Barlow nor Radabaugh knew it had been repurposed as such until 2024, nearly 27 years after it had been taken.
The credit for the image is jointly held by the two, who copyrighted it long before they officially did it in April 2025. Still, earlier images were printed in dog-oriented publications, such as the Airedale Terrier Club of America centennial magazine, which may have aided its quiet spread over the years. Still, Griffith stressed that while Radabaugh's images have periodically managed to find their way online without permission, using the pictures for profit.
How the image made it onto Golf le Fleur's radar is a mystery, but the plaintiffs are not just hoping for an explanation but for accountability. The lawsuit seeks damages and an injunction to prohibit the continued use of Bliss's image.
Copyright means much more than money for Barlow and Radabaugh. "This wasn't like art to be loaned," Griffith said. "This was a treasured memory, a homage to a beloved pet, turned suddenly commercial without permission."
Tyler, The Creator has not made a public statement about the lawsuit, but the case has already raised complex questions of ownership, artistic inspiration, and where the line between admiration and appropriation is drawn.
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