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New York Artist Sues Martin Shkreli Over Wu Tang Clan Album
By
Scott Heins
Published Feb 9, 2016
Modified Feb 9, 2016
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By
Scott Heins
Published Feb 9, 2016
Modified Feb 9, 2016
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Martin Shkreli's legal woes continue to mount. After the former CEO of Turning Pharmaceuticals was arrested last December for securities fraud, Shkreli is now being sued by a New York artist who claims that the artwork included in Once Upon A Time In Shaolin—the one-of-a-kind Wu Tang Clan Album that Shkreli purchased for $2 million—was taken, used, and sold without permission.
Jason Koza filed a complaint in Manhattan court Tuesday, claiming that illustrated portraits of Wu-Tang Clan members that he uploaded to fan site WuDisciples.blogspot.com were packaged with Once Upon A Time In Shaolin, which Shkreli bought through auction company Paddle8 in May, 2015. After acquiring the album, Shkreli bragged via video livestream that he "probably won't listen to it for years.”
Whether or not Shkreli decides to listen to Shaolin, Koza is seeking unspecified punitive damages, plus profits from copyright infringement, from the 32-year-old public pariah, Wu-Tang Clan founder Robert "RZA" Diggs, and music producer Tarik "Cilvaringz" Azzougarh. According to Koza's complaint, nine of his illustrations were used in a 174-page leather-bound book that accompanies the record. They later wound up reproduced in a January 28th article published by Vice (see them here).
Koza, who lives in Copiague, Long Island, created the portraits in late 2013 and early 2014 and then submitted them to WuDisciples for public display. Speaking with Reuters, Koza's attorney Peter Scoolidge specified that Shkreli "didn't need to know" that the illustrations had been used without permission. "There is no intent requirement for copyright infringement," he said.
Shkreli pleaded the Fifth Amendment last week during a House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform hearing regarding his drug pricing practices. In 2015, the walking human garbage heap raised the price of an anti-parasitic drug Daraprim by over 5,000 percent, only to later brag about his gouging on social media.
Shkreli has also somehow found the time to strike up a 1-on-1 internet feud with Wu-Tang Clan member Ghostface Killah. Earlier Tuesday, Ghostface posted an absolutely incredible 11 minute video calling out Shkreli, demanding that he drop the price of Daraprim and calling him a "fake-ass super-villain." Watch it below.
Tagged
Ghostface Killah
martin shkreli
Once Upon a Time in Shaolin
The Wu-Tang Clan
Scott Heins
Scott Heins is a freelance photo and video journalist based in New York City, and a frequent contributor to Gothamist + WNYC. His work often centers around labor rights, housing, and policing. In 2018-2019 he traveled to four states while covering a wave of public school teachers strikes, with work featured in The New York Times, The Intercept, Getty Images, Splinter, and Bloomberg Photos. Scott is a dues-paying member of the National Writers Union's Freelance Solidarity Project.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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