A few hours after the conviction of “Pharma Bro” Martin Shkreli was sued for allegedly copying and illegally distributing Wu-Tang Clan's only album Once upon a time in Shaolina federal judge ordered him to appear in court and immediately stop “causing further harm.”
In a decision late Tuesday, Judge Pamela Chen issued a temporary restraining order against the disgraced pharmacy executive, supporting the arguments of PleasrDAO — a digital art collective that bought the album in 2021 after Shkreli was forced to forfeit it as part of his criminal case.
“Plaintiff will suffer immediate and irreparable injury—namely, erosion of the album's uniqueness as an original work of art,” the judge wrote. He also ordered Shkreli to appear in court later this month and said he could be forced to hand over digital files and account for any ill-gotten gains.
And Judge Chen specifically threatened Shkreli with criminal penalties if he defies her order: “Defendant is warned that any act by him in violation of any of the terms of this order, after actual notice of this order is given to Defendant, may be deemed and be prosecuted in contempt of this court.'
The quick restraining order came less than a day after PleasrDAO sued Shkreli over the album leak, accusing him of violating both their purchase agreement and a federal seizure order requiring him to turn it over. They also accused him of violating the federal Trade Secrets Act, which protects valuable proprietary information from misuse.
“The album was intended to be the only existing copy of the disc, music, data and files and packaging,” the group's lawyers wrote earlier Tuesday. “It now appears, however, that Shkreli improperly retained copies of the data and records at the time of the seizure and has released and/or intends to release them.”
In an X post on Tuesday, Shkreli said: “These super nerds are suing me 🤣🤣🤣🤣 less crypto ethos whiter less culturally relevant docs good luck! In later posts, he called the lawsuit “frivolous” and also re-shared an X post in which another user suggested the lawsuit would fail: “Even if they win, didn't Shkreli just anonymously leak the album online out of spite?”
Shkreli did not immediately return a request for additional comment.
The legendary Wu-Tang Once upon a time in Shaolin it was recorded in secret and released only once, on CD secured in an engraved nickel and silver box. Although the band intended the odd embellishments as a protest against the commercialization of music, Shaolin later it became the ultimate commodity. In 2015, Shkreli — already infamous as the man who deliberately inflated the price of critical AIDS drugs — bought it at auction in 2015 for $2 million.
The deal came with an unusual condition: that the album could not be copied or otherwise released to the general public in any form until 2103, or 88 years after the original purchase. According to court documents, the agreement allowed the album to be played for private listening events in “venues not normally used as venues for major music concerts.”
In 2017, Shkreli was found guilty of two counts of securities fraud and one count of conspiracy. After he was sentenced to seven years in prison and ordered to pay back $7.4 million, the federal judge overseeing the case ordered him to surrender Shaolin to help pay the compensation.
PleasrDAO says it bought the album from federal prosecutors in 2021 for $4 million, and in 2024 acquired the copyright and other rights to the album for $750,000. Last month, the group said they would hold private listening events at an Australian museum where fans could “experience” some songs from the album.
But in Tuesday's lawsuit, PleasrDAO said Shkreli had kept illegal copies of Wu-Tang's music and recently began threatening to release them to the public.
In April posts on X, he reportedly said “LOL I have the mp3s, stupid” and “can I just upload the mp3s if you want?” In May, he reportedly posted an image of a PleasrDAO website in which the band said the album wouldn't be available until 2103 and said “look for a torrent I'm sick of this shit” – a reference to a method of sharing using files on the Internet. On Sunday (June 9), the group says it “publicly played music from the album” over the Internet to nearly 5,000 listeners.
In their filings, the group argued that releasing the album would cause “incalculable monetary loss” as the album's value was based on the “uniqueness” of the single copy: The potential resale value of the album and the profits that PleasrDAO could make from profits from music playback or exposure will decline as data and files become more widely available.”
In her restraining order later Tuesday, Judge Chen appeared swayed by those arguments. Saying that PleasrDAO would likely “succeed on the merits” of its case against Shkreli, it ruled that it was immediately barred from “using, disseminating, transmitting or selling any interest in the album” or “in any way causing further damage to the Plaintiff respecting the album.”
Judge Chen also ordered Shkreli to appear in court on June 25 to explain why he should not issue a more stringent injunction. Such an order, the judge said, would require Shkreli to account for any copies he kept, who he distributed them to and what profits he made from it, and would allow the seizure of any remaining copies of the album. it still holds.
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/pro/martin-shkreli-restraining-order-wu-tang-clan-album-lawsuit/
