Martin Shkreli Files Counterclaim Against RZA Over ‘Once Upon a Time in Shaolin’
The legal battle over the single-copy Wu-Tang Clan album intensifies as Shkreli claims copyright ownership.
Summary
- Martin Shkreli has filed a federal counter-lawsuit against RZA and producer Cilvaringz regarding the ownership of the one-of-a-kind Wu-Tang Clan album
- The disgraced pharmaceutical executive alleges that his 2015 purchase included 50 percent of the album’s copyrights which were not part of his asset forfeiture
- Shkreli claims the recent sale of rights to PleasrDAO constitutes an improper duplicate sale and is seeking a declaratory judgment from the court
Martin Shkreli and Wu-Tang Clan leader RZA are locked in a new legal dispute over the legendary Once Upon a Time in Shaolin album. In a federal court filing obtained this week, Shkreli has officially countersued the Staten Island hip-hop pioneer, alleging a breach of contract regarding the intellectual property of the world’s rarest record. The move follows years of controversy surrounding the single-copy project, which was originally sold to Shkreli for $2 million USD before being seized by the US government.
According to the 35-page filing, Shkreli contends that his 2015 acquisition of the album was “bifurcated” into physical and intangible assets. While the physical two-disc set and its silver-nickel box were forfeited to the Department of Justice in 2018 to satisfy a $7.4 million USD judgment, Shkreli argues he never relinquished his 50 percent stake in the album’s copyrights. He further claims that the remaining 50 percent of the rights were slated to transfer to him in the year 2103.
The lawsuit describes a “duplicate sale” scenario, where RZA and co-producer Cilvaringz allegedly resold those same rights to the digital art collective PleasrDAO for $750,000 USD in 2024. PleasrDAO, which purchased the physical album from the government for $4 million USD in 2021, previously sued Shkreli for allegedly retaining and streaming digital copies of the music. Shkreli is now asking the court to confirm his ownership and ruling that the work does not qualify as a trade secret, potentially clearing the way for further dissemination of the closely guarded recordings.
