Shkreli Ordered to Hand Over Wu-Tang Album Copies
The court has demanded Martin Shkreli give up any copies of the unique Wu-Tang Clan album, Once Upon a Time in Shaolin.
This decision came from an ongoing legal battle between Shkreli and PleasrDAO, a digital art group that bought the album in 2021 after Shkreli was forced to forfeit it because of his 2017 fraud case. The lawsuit claims Shkreli broke the original agreement and forfeiture terms by copying the album, playing it on live streams, and sharing it with others.
On August 26, a judge temporarily barred Shkreli from using or selling anything related to the album until the final decision of the case. The judge said Shkreli should not possess, use, or sell any part of the album or its files, or harm the plaintiff more regarding the album.
Fans hope this will bring some clarity to the situation soon.
Shkreli must hand over all his copies by August 30 and sign a paper saying he did so. By September 30, he needs to provide another statement about who else has copies and if he made money from it.
Shkreli’s lawyer, Ed Paltzik, stated, "This Order is merely a preliminary measure entered by the Court to maintain the perceived status quo before any discovery occurs — the Order has no bearing whatsoever on the final outcome of the case." He emphasized that the court hasn’t decided if PleasrDAO’s claims are valid yet.
PleasrDAO sued Shkreli in June, highlighting times he admitted to copying or playing the album. For example, on a stream in June 2022, Shkreli said, “Of course I made MP3 copies, they’re like hidden in safes all around the world… I’m not stupid. I don’t buy something for two million dollars just so I can keep one copy.â€
There are also tweets from Shkreli where he bragged, “LOL I have the mp3s you moron†and “I literally play it in my discord all the time.†A YouTube video from May shows him saying he “burned the album and sent it to like, 50 different chicks,†joking about how many blowjobs it got him.
