Martin Shkreli has to hand over copies of Wu-Tang Clan albums

A federal court has ordered Martin Shkreli to surrender “all his copies, in any form” of Once upon a time in Shaolin, the seventh studio album by Wu-Tang Clan.

Judge Pamela K. Chen issued the order today as part of a broader preliminary injunction, with the underlying lawsuit filed in June by cryptocurrency-focused company PleasrDAO. (Also in June, the ultra-limited edition work became available to the public, at least in part, as a token.)

To illustrate: The Wu-Tang Clan released only one physical copy of Once upon a time in Shaolinthat is not available through streaming services.

The so-called “pharma brother” Shkreli purchased the extremely rare double CD for a reported $2 million, but authorities eventually seized the assets after his conviction on securities charges. The aforementioned PleasrDAO then purchased the project, stating in legal documents that it paid a total of $4.75 million.

Given the high price, it is to be expected Once upon a time in Shaolin “should be the only existing copy of the recording, music, data and files, and packaging,” PleasrDAO’s lawsuit states.

But “Shkreli was unlawfully retaining copies of the data and files at the time of the seizure and was making them available to the public or intended to do so,” the platform further claimed in the original lawsuit, accusing the company of, among other things, violating the Defend Trade Secrets Act.

Needless to say, the alleged violations are not at all pleasing to the buyer, who attended a preliminary injunction hearing last Friday, August 23rd.

And during that hearing, the court was convinced that there were “sufficiently serious questions” regarding a possible “violation of the Defend Trade Secrets Act,” along with concerns about possible unjust enrichment and “immediate and irreparable harm” to PleasrDAO.

Consequently, Judge Chen has prohibited the 41-year-old defendant from possessing, using, distributing or selling any shares in the Wu-Tang Clan album. Once upon a time in Shaolin”, the order states.

In addition, the judge ordered that Shkreli must “turn over all copies of the 31-track album, in whatever form, to his attorney” by Friday, August 30. Along with those copies, the Brooklyn native must sign an affidavit confirming that he no longer owns the 110-minute work.

But that’s not all: The court set the same deadline for submitting a “letter from the defense confirming that they have taken possession of the copies of the album.” And by September 30, Shkreli must provide the “names and contact information of the persons” to whom he has transferred the work and any financial proceeds from it.

“The defendant is advised that any of his actions in contravention of the provisions of this order after being notified of this order may be considered contempt of court and punishable,” Judge Chen concluded.

On social media this afternoon, Shkreli took aim at the sales attributable to the NFT for Once upon a time in Shaolin and responded to reports of the injunction in various tweets.