A US federal court judge has ordered former hedge fund manager, ex-pharmaceuticals CEO and convicted fraudster Martin Shkreli to testify as to how copies of the one-off Wu-Tang Clan album Once Upon a Time in Shaolin may now exist due to his alleged violation of the original conditions of sale.
Shkreli, who formerly financed Collect Records, operated by Thursday frontman Geoff Rickly, purchased the ultra-rare Wu-Tang Clan album in 2015, paying $2 million for the recording, the most expensive piece of music ever sold. Just one copy of the two-CD album by the Staten Island hip-hop collective was ever manufactured. The conditions of sale attached to this singular piece of art stipulated that the album could not be commercially exploited until 2103, and the purchaser was forbidden to make or distribute copies of the album, although it could be aired at listening parties.
In 2018, following Shkreli's conviction for securities fraud, a US federal court order that his assets - including the album - be seized, and it was subsequently sold to digital art collective PleasrDAO.
In recent years, Shkreli has been rather cavalier in admitting numerous violations of the album's condition of sale. According to Rolling Stone, legal documents filed by the albums current owners identified a YouTube video post, where Shkreli allegedly said he “burned the album and sent it to like, 50 different chicks,” adding “Do you know how many blowjobs that album got me?
During a 2022 livestream, he also allegedly said, “Of course, I made MP3 copies, they’re like hidden in safes all around the world … I’m not stupid. I don’t buy something for two million dollars just so I can keep one copy.”
In August, a court ordered that Shkreli surrender all copies of the album in his possession. But he admitted that it's likely additional copies exist.
“Because I shared the musical work several times several years ago, I cannot recall each and every time that I have shared the musical work,” he told the judge, according to Billboard. “It is possible, and indeed I find it highly likely, that one of the many people who viewed, heard, or otherwise accessed the musical work via my social media recorded the musical work and retains a copy of the same.”
Judge Pamela K. Chen has now ordered Shkreli to testify about his knowledge of this in court. The hearing is scheduled for November 5.
In a statement shared with Rolling Stone, PleasrDAO’s lawyer, Steven Cooper, says, “We are pleased that Judge Chen scheduled an evidentiary hearing to determine whether Martin Shkreli has been totally forthcoming about whether he has diligently searched for, and turned over, all copies of Once Upon a Time in Shaolin.”
