Judge Allows Trade-Secret Suit Over Wu-Tang Album

U.S. District Judge Pamela Chen ruled that PleasrDAO can proceed with trade-secret and related claims that Martin Shkreli misappropriated the Wu-Tang Clan’s one-of-a-kind album Once Upon a Time in Shaolin, while dismissing some claims as preempted by federal copyright law. PleasrDAO alleges Shkreli retained and copied the album after it was forfeited to satisfy a judgment, repeatedly played tracks for online audiences and taunted members — conduct that prompted a temporary restraining order last year barring him from using or disseminating the recording. Chen found PleasrDAO plausibly alleged it took reasonable measures (armed guards, constant video surveillance) to preserve the album’s secrecy and concluded the album’s economic value derived from its secret, exclusive nature, allowing claims for damages, disgorgement of profits, and return of any copies to proceed. The album’s unusual history — Shkreli bought it for $2 million in 2015, forfeited it after his fraud conviction, and PleasrDAO later acquired it at auction for roughly $4 million subject to an 88‑year noncommercial clause — makes this a novel application of trade-secret law to a cultural asset. Legal analysts say the ruling signals that unreleased cultural works whose value depends on secrecy may receive trade-secret protection and raises novel legal questions for DAOs.