Martin Shkreli is once again at the center of controversy surrounding Wu-Tang Clan’s one-of-a-kind album Once Upon a Time in Shaolin. Nearly a decade after purchasing the ultra-rare project, the disgraced former pharmaceutical executive is facing a new lawsuit alleging he may have violated federal trade secret protections by retaining copies of the album even after losing ownership.
According to Billboard, U.S. District Judge Pamela K. Chen ruled that Shkreli’s actions could constitute a breach of those protections. PleasrDAO, a collective that purchased the album from federal prosecutors for $4 million in 2021 and secured the copyrights in 2024, filed the lawsuit against him last year. The group alleges Shkreli not only kept digital copies but also threatened to leak them online. “LOL i have the mp3s you moron” and “i can just upload the mp3s if you want?” he reportedly posted on X (formerly Twitter), hinting that he still had possession of the files.
“The secret and exclusive nature of the album is a large part of its intrinsic value,” Judge Chen wrote in her ruling. “There can be no serious debate that the value of the album … was largely based on its secret and exclusive nature.” However, she also acknowledged that the legal questions surrounding the project are unusual. “Though the court agrees with plaintiff … it cannot be understated that the application of trade secret doctrine to the unique facts of this case is uncharted territory.”
Once Upon a Time in Shaolin was recorded in secret by Wu-Tang Clan and famously pressed onto a single CD. The group’s intention was for the album to remain private, with the owner forbidden from releasing it publicly until the year 2103. Shkreli originally purchased the album in 2015 for $2 million, but after being convicted in 2017 on two counts of securities fraud and one count of conspiracy, he was forced to surrender the album as part of a $7.4 million forfeiture judgment.
The new legal battle raises questions about ownership and intellectual property in an era where physical exclusivity clashes with the ease of digital duplication. For now, the fate of Wu-Tang Clan’s most mysterious project and whether Shkreli violated trade secret laws will be determined in court.