Martin Shkreli to testify as to how many copies of Wu-Tang Clan’s rare ‘Once Upon A Time In Shaolin’ could be in circulation

nme.com:

Wu-Tang Clan‘s rare ‘Once Upon A Time In Shaolin’ album that could be in circulation.The former hedge fund manager and ‘pharma-bro’, who bought the sole copy of the record back in 2015 for $2million (£1.4m), was sued by PleasrDAO for illegally livestreaming the album last June.

He bought the album under a legal agreement stipulating that the album could not be commercially exploited until 2103, though it could be played at listening parties.Shkreli played clips of the album during a livestream in 2017 despite the restrictions, then tried to sell the album on eBay – and received an offer for $1.2million (£940,000), but the sale was never completed.

He was then forced to hand over the album following his conviction for securities fraud, when $7.4million (£5.8m) worth of assets were seized by a federal court.From there, the US Department of Justice sold it to Pleasr for $4million (£3.1m) in 2021, in a bid to cover Shkreli’s debts.

The collective said at the time that it would find a way to make it accessible to fans and the rest of the world.According to the lawsuit brought by PleasrDAO (filed June 10 in a Brooklyn federal court), Shkreli violated conditions of his legal agreement by making copies of the album and playing it publicly.