Martin Shkrleli, the convicted pharmaceutical executive, was ordered to hand over any copies he may have made of the one-of-a-kind (at least it was supposed to be) Wu-Tang Clan Album, Once Upon a Time in Shaolin.
The ruling was handed down in the ongoing lawsuit between Shkreli and PleasrDAO, a digital art collective that purchased the album from Shkreli in 2021 after the felon was ordered to fork it over as part of a $7.4 million forfeiture tied to his 2017 fraud conviction. According to the suit, Shkreli violated the terms of both the original purchase agreement and the forfeiture order by allegedly making and retaining a digital copy of the album, playing it during his live streams, and sending it to others.
On Monday, Aug. 26, the judge overseeing the case granted PleasrDAO’s request for a temporary restraining order (this is not a final ruling, but a preliminary order pending the final outcome of the lawsuit). The judge ruled that Shkreli should be barred from “possessing, using, disseminating, or selling any interest in [Once Upon a Time in Shaolin], including its data and files or the contents of the Album, or in any way causing further damage to Plaintiff respecting the Album.”
The judge also ordered Shkreli to “sequester and turn over all of his copies, in any form,” of the album by Aug. 30 and sign an affidavit stating he’s followed through on those orders. By Sept. 30, Shkreli will have to file another affidavit containing information regarding alleged copies of Once Upon a Time in Shaolin, people he might’ve given them to, and any money he might’ve made from distributing or playing the album.
Lawyers for Shkreli did not immediately return Rolling Stone’s request for comment.
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PleasrDAO filed a lawsuit against Shkreli in June. The original suit outlined numerous occasions where Shkreli seems to admit to playing the album on his live streams or making copies. For instance, on a June 30, 2022, stream — just over a month after he was released from prison — 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.”
The lawsuit contained more recent statements from Shkreli, like such tweets from earlier this year: “LOL I have the mp3s you moron” and “I literally play it in my discord all the time.” The suit also cited a YouTube video from this past May, where Shkreli allegedly said he “burned the album and sent it to like, 50 different chicks,” then quipped, “Do you know how many blowjobs that album got me?”
