### The Odyssey of the Wu-Tang Clan Album: Martin Shkreli, PleasrDAO, and the Clash Over “Once Upon a Time in Shaolin”
In the chronicles of contemporary music history, there are few narratives as surreal and intricate as the account of Wu-Tang Clan’s “Once Upon a Time in Shaolin.” This album, a singular artifact crafted as only one physical edition, has become embroiled in a legal and cultural tempest featuring infamous “pharma bro” Martin Shkreli, the decentralized collective called PleasrDAO, and the United States legal framework. The saga has sparked discussions about ownership, copyright, and the significance of art in the digital era.
#### The Album That Initiated It All
“Once Upon a Time in Shaolin” was envisioned as a rebellion against the diminishing value of music in the digital age. Wu-Tang Clan, a revered hip-hop ensemble, created the album as a one-of-a-kind artistic expression. It was more than just an album; it was a proclamation, encased in a specially designed nickel and silver box, accompanied by a 174-page leather-bound tome of lyrics and production stories, along with a pair of tailored audio speakers. The album aimed to serve as a singular cultural treasure, with only one copy ever produced.
In 2015, Martin Shkreli, at that time a hedge fund manager and CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals, acquired the album for $2 million. Shkreli’s purchase was contentious, given his rising infamy for drastically hiking the price of the life-saving medication Daraprim by over 5,000%. The acquisition only heightened his notoriety, making him a representation of corporate avarice.
#### Shkreli’s Legal Issues and the Album’s Confiscation
Shkreli’s luck took a drastic downturn when he was found guilty of securities fraud in 2017. As part of his punishment, he was mandated to surrender $7.4 million in assets, including the Wu-Tang Clan album. The U.S. government confiscated the album and subsequently sold it to an unnamed middleman to assist in covering Shkreli’s fines.
Enter PleasrDAO, a “digital autonomous organization” consisting of 74 individuals who jointly acquired the album from the intermediary for $4.75 million. PleasrDAO, which focuses on obtaining culturally significant digital artifacts, minted a non-fungible token (NFT) to signify their ownership of the album. This NFT functioned as a digital title, representing the collective ownership of the physical album by PleasrDAO’s members.
#### The Exposé: Shkreli’s Replicas
However, PleasrDAO’s thrill over possessing the “one-of-a-kind” album was fleeting. In June 2022, Shkreli disclosed on his YouTube channel that he had created multiple versions of the album before it was confiscated by the authorities. “Naturally, I made MP3 duplicates,” Shkreli stated, mentioning that they were “secured in safes all around the globe.” He even asserted to have shared copies with various people and played the album on his Discord server, mocking PleasrDAO members by claiming that “>5000 people have” the album.
Shkreli’s antics, which included offering to distribute copies to random internet users and hosting listening events on his social media platforms, prompted PleasrDAO to initiate a lawsuit against him. The organization argued that Shkreli was breaching the asset forfeiture order and misappropriating “trade secrets” as per New York law. PleasrDAO contended that Shkreli’s dissemination of the album’s material was undermining its marketability and worth.
#### Shkreli’s Counterargument: A Matter of Rights
In facing the lawsuit, Shkreli’s defense was clear-cut: he believed he retained the right to make and distribute copies of the album. According to Shkreli, upon purchasing the album in 2015, he also obtained 50% of the copyrights related to the package. He asserted that the government had only seized the physical version of the album, not the duplicates he had already produced. Moreover, he argued that the album could no longer qualify as a “trade secret” since it had been rendered non-secret due to his actions.
#### The Legal Dispute: A Temporary Restraining Order
As the proceedings progressed, a federal judge in Brooklyn issued a temporary restraining order on August 26, 2024, barring Shkreli from “owning, using, distributing, or selling any interest in the Wu-Tang Clan album ‘Once Upon a Time in Shaolin,’ including its data and files or the contents of the Album.” The judge further mandated Shkreli to surrender all versions of the album, in any format, to his legal team and to submit an affidavit confirming he no longer holds any copies.
Additionally, by the conclusion of September 2024, Shkreli
