Martin Shkreli moves to reject PleasrDAO’s Wu-Tang Clan album ownership claims

US investor and former pharmaceutical executive Martin Shkreli has asked a Brooklyn federal court to dismiss claims against him by NFT collective PleasrDAO over ownership of a rare recording by legendary hip-hop group Wu-Tang clan

The move is the latest episode in a saga that began in June 2024, when PleasrDAO sued Shkreli, alleging that he illegally made and kept copies of a one-off album called Once Upon a Time in Shaolin.

The Wu-Tang factor

Shkreli’s Jan. 6 filing seeks to have the NFT Group’s complaints against him dismissed as “preempted by the Copyright Act.” If the case continues, the ex-convict wants two members of the Wu-Tang Clan, Robert Diggs, also known as The RZA, and Tarik Azzougarh, who goes by the name Cilvaringz, to be included in the proceedings because he co-owns the album.

Shkreli initially bought the secretive project in 2015 for $2 million at a private auction. Only one copy was made under a contract whose terms prevented public release of the album until 2103.

However, authorities confiscated the recording in 2018 after the pharmaceutical executive was arrested following allegations of defrauding investors and participating in a stock fraud scheme involving his company, Retrophin Inc. Upon being found guilty, he was sentenced to seven years in prison and ordered to pay a $75,000 fine and $7.3 million in forfeiture.

The album was put up for sale to help pay off government debt, and PleasrDAO bought it for $4.75 million in July 2021, after which it announced it would mint the recording on a NFT. However, in 2022, Shkreli was recorded on video playing the supposedly exclusive music on his YouTube channel, saying that he had made several copies and hidden them in safes around the world.

The businessman then began taunting the album’s rightful owners, PleasrDAO, by telling them that he played the music on their Discord all the time. He also hosted listening parties for the recording on his X account, reportedly reaching close to 5,000 people.

Fight for ownership of music

On June 10, 2024, PleasrDAO sued Shkreli, alleging that his actions had caused collective material monetary damages, diminishing the marketability and value of the album. Although the investor claims that his initial purchase agreement allowed him to retain 50% of the royalties even if he sold the actual physical album, PleasrDAO has insisted that his purchase included an agreement that lose all their rights, titles and interests.

In August, a New York judge ordered the former pharmaceutical executive to turn over all copies he had made of the 31-song album and sign an affidavit saying he no longer had any .

Still unsatisfied, the NFT group wrote a letter to the judge, expressing concern that the businessman had not handed over all copies of the album and asking him to do a deeper search. Shkreli’s lawyers say he made an effort to comply with a list of additional searches requested by PleasrDAO, but acknowledged that he may not have performed some of them.

The ex-convict recently made headlines after claiming to be the co-creator of a Donald Trump-themed meme coin, DJT, whose authenticity had been called into question amid allegations of insider trading.

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