At the heart of recent legal action in New York is the one-of-a-kind Wu-Tang Clan album, purchased by former Wall Street figure Martin Shkreli.
As reported by APNews, the "Pharma Bro" is being sued in connection with the exclusive music album.
After acquiring the rare album for $4.75 million, the group discovered that Shkreli had copied the content and was distributing it extensively. Titled Once Upon A Time In Shaolin, Shkreli initially purchased the album for $2 million in 2015. In 2018, the authorities seized the album to offset a forfeiture order of $7.4 million resulting from his convictions for securities fraud and conspiracy.
Shkreli faced a seven-year sentence in the case yet obtained early release in the year 2022.
Following the album's extraction from Shkreli's ownership, PleasrDAO acquired two installments - a physical copy and digital rights - in July 2021 and another in January 2024.
Within the legal filing, PleasrDAO claims that Shkreli has illicitly duplicated the songs from the album and distributed them to a large audience. This includes instances where he showcased the music during a Twitter Spaces event that attracted nearly 5,000 participants. During a recent YouTube livestream in 2022, he reportedly mentioned playing the same video someone purchased for $4 million just the other night.
In its complaint, PleasrDAO asserts that distributing the album's files significantly reduces or eradicates its worth, as it was originally designed as a project with just a single copy.
In court documents seen by APNews, the lawsuit said, "Any dissemination of the Album's music to the general public greatly diminishes and/or destroys the Album's value, and significantly damages PleasrDAO's reputation and ability to commercially exploit the Album."
HipHopDX further reported that according to the lawsuit, "Shrkeli's actions violated the Court's Forfeiture Order...and further constitute misappropriation of trade secrets... Shkreli will commit further violations by continuing to disseminate the Album's data and files."
To seek justice, PleasrDAO is urging Shkreli to delete all duplicates of the music, relinquish any gains obtained from streaming the tracks online, and provide compensation for damages caused.
Shkreli has publicly mocked PleasrDAO for taking legal action against him while justifying his behavior.
He said in a tweet, "these super nerds are suing me [three laughing emojis] the least crypto ethos, whitest, least culturally relevant dorks good luck!"
Per Pitchfork, Once Upon a Time in Shaolin is set to make its public debut at Australia's Museum of Old and New Art (MONA). A strict agreement ensures that the album remains unavailable for commercial purposes until 2109, yet private listening events at locations like MONA are exempt from this restriction.
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