NEW YORK — US investor Martin Shkreli is facing a new lawsuit for allegedly keeping and sharing recordings of a unique Wu-Tang Clan album he was forced to sell after his 2017 conviction allegations of securities fraud.
The lawsuit was filed Monday by a cryptocurrency collective, PleasrDAO, which purchased the only known copy of Shkreli's album for $4.75 million. The album 'Once Upon a Time is Shaolin' has not been released to the public and has functioned as a rare contemporary work of art since it was auctioned by the famous hip-hop group in 2015.
In the lawsuit filed in federal court in Brooklyn, New York, PleasrDAO accused Shkreli of retaining digital copies of the album in violation of their deal and widely distributing them to his social media followers.
They point to his recent comments on social media, in which he boasts about sharing the digital recordings with “thousands of people.” Over the weekend, Shkreli played portions of the album during a livestream he hosted on X, which he called a “Wu tang official listening party,” according to the lawsuit.
Shkreli did not respond to a request for comment.
The lawsuit marks the latest twist for an unusual album made in protest against the devaluation of music in the streaming age but bought at auction by Shkreli, a man known for jacking up the price of a life-saving drug and his 'Pharma Bro'. persona.
Shkreli was later forced to sell the album – housed in a handcrafted silver and nickel case and including a 174-page book wrapped in leather – following his conviction on security fraud charges.
PleasrDAO said it purchased the physical copy of the album and its digital rights in two transactions, in 2021 and 2024. They said they understood Shkreli had destroyed any trace of the album's files.
“Any distribution of the Album's music to the general public will materially diminish and/or destroy the value of the Album, and materially harm PleasrDAO's reputation and ability to commercially exploit the Album,” the lawsuit states.
The album was released last month led to Australia's Museum of Old and New Art, which said it planned to host private listening sessions of selected songs from the album early this week.
