PleasrDAO files lawsuit against Martin Shkreli

PleasrDAO, a decentralized autonomous organization known for collecting digital and physical art, sharing ownership between DAO members, and donating to charitable causes, has filed a lawsuit against ‘pharma bro’ Martin Shkreli.

The lawsuit was filed in response to Shkreli hosting an X spaces event on June 9 and allegedly live-streaming what was previously thought to be a one-of-a-kind Wu-Tang Clan album, acquired by PleasrDAO in 2021, to listeners in the virtual meeting room.

PleasrDAO is now accusing Shkreli of causing undue damage to Pleasr, citing “significant monetary and irreparable harm” in their official complaint:

“The Album was supposed to constitute the sole existing copy of the record, music, data and files, and packaging. It now appears, however, that Shkreli improperly retained copies of the data and files at the time of the forfeiture and has released and/or intends to release them to the public.”

The complaint continued: “Such actions would cause PleasrDAO to incur significant monetary and irreparable harm, and give rise to numerous claims for relief under the forfeiture order and common law.”

Shkreli denounced the lawsuit, claiming that members of PleasrDAO do not support the filing of the litigation and were not given the opportunity to vote on the lawsuit.

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In 2021, PleasrDAO acquired the Wu-Tang album, Once Upon a Time in Shaolin, from an asset forfeiture auction for approximately $4.75 million paid in two separate transactions.

Wu-Tang reportedly made the album to counter the increased digitization and commercialization of music. They hope to restore music to the realm of high art and away from its current status as a mass-produced consumer good.

The album was previously owned by Shkreli, who paid $2 million for the one-of-a-kind recording. At the time, the album was seemingly one of Shkreli’s most prized items. During a 2016 interview with Vice, Shkreli played a portion of the gold-embossed two-disc album. Vice’s interview with Shkreli concluded with him reflecting on what he would do with the one-of-a-kind recording in the future.

However, the former pharmaceutical CEO was later forced to surrender the high-dollar album to authorities in 2018 following his conviction and sentencing for securities fraud.

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