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PleasrDAO sues Martin Shkreli over Wu-Tang Clan album rights

The BlockThe Block2024/06/11 22:25
By:The Block

Quick Take PleasrDAO is suing Martin Shkreli for distributing copies of a Wu-Tang Clan album to which he forfeited rights. PleasrDAO said it first bought the exclusive rights to the unreleased album’s audio tracks for $4 million in 2021, according to a lawsuit filed on Monday.

Martin Shkreli is being sued for allegedly sharing digital copies of an unreleased Wu-Tang Clan album after forfeiting the rights to it. 

According to a lawsuit filed on Monday in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York by PleasrDAO, Shkreli illegally shared copies of "Once Upon A Time in Shaolin" by the Wu-Tang Clan, even though he no longer owned the rights to the album. PleasrDAO purchased exclusive rights to the album’s audio tracks from Shkreli for $4 million in 2021, according to the legal filing. 

Shkreli, who gained notoriety nearly a decade ago for significantly increasing the price of a life-saving medication, bought the Wu-Tang Clan album for roughly $2 million in 2015. Two years later, he was found guilty in a securities fraud case connected to his hedge fund, which resulted in him receiving a seven-year prison sentence and being ordered to forfeit more than $7 million. Some time after receiving the order, Shkreli sold the highly sought-after Wu-Tang album to PleasrDAO. 

Neither PleasrDAO nor Shkreli immediately replied to The Block's request for comment.

PleasrDAO, which bills itself as a collective focused on creating virtual experiences with “culturally significant media and materials,” planned to selectively share the album's contents after buying the record, according to the lawsuit. Shkreli’s continued distribution of the unreleased Wu-Tang audio tracks, however, has “diminished” the album's value, inflicting “significant monetary and irreparable harm” upon PleasrDAO, according to the lawsuit.

“Shkreli has shown a complete lack of respect for the integrity of the Album and the conditions in place to ensure its secrecy,” PleasrDAO said in the legal complaint.

PleasrDAO alleged that Shkreli shared at least 50 copies of the album between 2022 and 2024. More recently, the former executive also allegedly played unreleased audio tracks from the album during an X Spaces event on June 9, according to the legal complaint.

PleasrDAO has requested the seizure of any digital copies of the album that remain in Shkreli's possession, a legal filing shows. The crypto collective is also seeking financial compensation, the amount of which will be determined by a court in New York.


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