Infamous fraudster Martin Shkreli must turn over copies of unique Wu-Tang Clan album
Fraudster Martin Shkreli has been ordered to turn over all copies of the rare 2015 Wu-Tang Clan album Once Upon A Time in Shaolin by a federal judge in Brooklyn. The judge also ordered that Shkreli be forbidden from streaming or disseminating copies of the record.
This isn’t the first time that Shkreli has found himself in trouble with the law, as he recently gained infamy by attempting to inflate the price of HIV drugs. This earned him the nickname of “Pharma Bro.” Shkreli now finds himself on the end of a lawsuit filed by the owner of the album Once Upon A Time in Shaolin, PleasrDAO, who states that he has unauthorised copies of the record.
The album was released in 2015 and sold on the auction site Paddle8. The record was unique as it was intended to be sold as one of one in the same way that art is. The plan was for Wu-Tang Clan to launch a new model that supported pop music. The album producer Tarik ‘Cilvaringz’ Azzougarh spoke about the record, saying, “In order to take it a few steps forward, why not take it 400 years worth of steps back to the Renaissance age, and look at music as a commissioned commodity, from creation to exhibition to sale.”
Shkreli was the initial buyer of the one-of-a-kind album, paying $2million for Once Upon A Time in Shaolin. This was met with a great deal of pushback because of Shkreli’s notoriety and dodgy dealings in the past.
In 2017, he was forced to forfeit the album because of his criminal fraud conviction. The US government seized it before selling it to PleasrDAO, a group of crypto investors and digital art enthusiasts. It sold for $4.75million in 2021.
PleasrDAO brought forward this lawsuit against Shkreli, claiming that despite being forced to hand over the album and their legal purchase, he still maintained unauthorised copies. Upon hearing oral arguments presented by both parties, Brooklyn Judge Pamela Chen ruled from the bench immediately.
PleasrDAO’s lawyer released a short statement saying, “Today’s ruling by the court is an important victory for our client PleasrDAO, who owns the exclusive rights to the one-of-a-kind-Wu-Tang Clan album.”
The album is currently on display in the Museum of Old and New Art in Tasmania and will likely continue touring museums for the foreseeable future.
