Martin Shkreli is facing a new lawsuit related to Wu-Tang Clan’s iconic album, Once Upon a Time in Shaolin, which he previously held ownership over. According to a new report from Billboard, Judge Pamela K. Chen ruled that the controversial investor may have violated federal protections for trade secrets by retaining copies of the album, despite it going up for auction in 2021.
PleasrDAO purchased the music from federal prosecutors for $4 million and acquired the copyrights in 2024. It brought the lawsuit against Shkreli, last year. They claim he threatened to leak copies on the internet. “LOL i have the mp3s you moron” and “i can just upload the mp3s if you want?” Shkreli allegedly wrote in a pair of posts on X (formerly Twitter) at the time.
“The secret and exclusive nature of the album is a large part of its intrinsic value,” the judge wrote in Thursday's ruling. “There can be no serious debate that the value of the album … was largely based on its secret and exclusive nature.” She did admit that, considering the unusual circumstances surrounding the release of the album, this is "uncharted territory." “Though the court agrees with plaintiff … it cannot be understated that the application of trade secret doctrine to the unique facts of this case is uncharted territory,” she wrote.
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Wu-Tang Clan "Once Upon A Time in Shaolin"
Wu-Tang Clan recorded the album in secret and sold it on a single CD. They noted that the owner could only release it to the general public in 2103. Shkreli originally bought the album in 2015 for $2 million. He soon went viral as the internet deemed him the “Pharma Bro.”
Shkreli ended up losing ownership of the album after being found guilty on two counts of securities fraud and one count of conspiracy in 2017. He had to give up the album to help repay $7.4 million.
