So-called “Pharmabro” Martin Shkreli has been ordered by a federal judge to turn over all copies of Wu-Tang Clan’s unreleased and ultra-rare 2015 album, “Once Upon a Time in Shaolin,” and has been barred from streaming any additional content from the album.
Wu-Tang Clan spent six years making Once Upon a Time in Shaolin, and in 2015 put one copy of the 31-track double album up for auction with the proviso that it would never be released to the public. The multi-platinum hip-hop group wanted the album to be seen as a work of contemporary art.
Shkreli, a former pharmaceutical executive who gained notoriety for trying to astronomically raise the price of life-saving drugs, bought the album for $2 million in 2015 but was forced to sell it in the aftermath of his 2021 securities fraud conviction for lying to investors and defrauding them out of millions of dollars. The album was then purchased by cryptocurrency collective PleasrDAO for $4.75 million.
In June, PleasrDAO sued Shkreli, accusing him of storing and distributing digital copies in violation of the agreement.
Judge Pamela K. Chen of Brooklyn said Shkreli The rarest album in the world You have until September 30th to report the names of anyone who has distributed your music and how much money they’ve made from it.
In a statement, PleasrDAO attorney Steven Cooper called the ruling an “important victory,” adding that the company was pleased that the judge “recognized that immediate relief is necessary to stop Mr. Shkreli’s continued evil conduct.”
Shkreli’s lawyer, Edward Paltzik, said in an email that the judge’s order maintains the “status quo” in the proceedings and “does not affect in any way the ultimate outcome of the litigation.”
The judge also noted that he had not determined that PleasrDAO was likely to succeed on the merits or that its claims were true.
According to the criminal complaint against Shkreli, after he was released in 2022 from a seven-year prison sentence for fraud, Shkreli openly bragged online that he still had a copy of the album and streamed excerpts of it to some of his social media followers — not for the first time.
Footage has also surfaced online of him performing the record to celebrate Donald Trump’s victory in the 2016 presidential election.
The judge’s order prohibits him from “possessing, using, distributing or selling any rights to the album, including any album data or files,” in addition to providing detailed records of where copies of the album are located, who has access to them, and any proceeds he has received.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
