convicted criminal and former drugstore tycoon Martin Shkreli ordered to hand over all copies of the one-off Wu-Tang Clan album. got used to it owner, ArtNet informed. The initial ruling, issued by federal judge Pamela Chen, came on behalf of the NFT collective PleasrDAO, the current owner of the record.
as part of judgmentthe court ordered Shkreli to turn over all copies to his lawyer within a week, along with an affidavit confirming that he had done so (under penalty of perjury). He must provide an inventory of all copies of the album, a list of anyone who may have purchased it, and any proceeds from distribution.
The decision could be a problem for Shkreli. In a May 2024 podcast, he said he copied the album and “liked it, sent it to 50 different chicks”, while boasting that “thousands of people listened to it” according to PleasrDAO’s original. complaint.
Shkreli, who became famous for buying the life-saving AIDS drug Daraprim and raising its price, bought the only copy of the Wu-Tang album. Once upon a time in Shaolin In 2015, it was sold at an auction for 2 million dollars. After being charged with securities fraud, the album was seized along with other assets to satisfy a forfeiture order. At that time the govt sold his album $4.75 million to PleasrDAO in 2021.
However, the group sued Shkreli in June 2024, accusing him of streaming music on social media as part of the “Wu-Tang Official Listening Party”. To promote it, he boasted in a now-deleted video that he had made copies “hidden in safes all over the world”. In June, Judge Chen issued a restraining order requiring Shkreli to stop distributing the album and appear in court to explain why he should be allowed to keep copies.
