Martin Shkreli has been dropped from a lawsuit over art used in the packaging of the Wu-Tang Clan’s Once Upon A Time In Shaolin album that he purchased, according to Billboard.
Artist Jason Koza says his work was used without his permission.
“Mr. Koza agreed to drop his case against Mr. Shkreli on the morning that his opposition to Mr. Shkreli’s motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim was due to be filed in federal court,” Shkreli’s lawyer, John Wait of Fox Rothschild told Billboard in a statement. “Mr. Shkreli did not agree to any conditions or pay any form of settlement in exchange for being dismissed from the case. In our view it is likely that Mr. Koza recognized that he would be unable to maintain an infringement claim against Mr. Shkreli in light of the fair use doctrine.”
Koza, who filed a copyright infringement lawsuit in Manhattan federal court in March, is seeking damages from auction site Paddle8, RZA and Once Upon A Time In Shaolin producer Cilvaringz.
(The original post in this thread was published February 10, 2016. It is as follows.)
RZA and Martin Shkreli are among those being sued over Once Upon A Time In Shaolin, according to Reuters.
Shkreli purchased the one-of-a-kind Wu-Tang Clan album for a reported $2 million last year. In a lawsuit filed in Manhattan federal court yesterday (February 9) that also targets auction house Paddle8 and album producer Tarik “Cilvaringz” Azzougarh, Jason Koza says that his art depicting the Wu-Tang Clan members was used in the packaging for the project without his permission.
Koza, who is seeking unspecified damages as well as profits tied to copyright infringement, says that he thought his work depicting the Wu-Tang Clan members would only appear on WuDisciples.blogspot.com.
Once Shkreli was announced as the purchaser of Once Upon A Time In Shaolin, RZA distanced himself from Shkreli given the controversy of his tactics as a pharmaceutical CEO. Shkreli then dissed RZA for not respecting him.
Ghostface Killah and Shkreli have also exchanged a series of threats and disses, which included Ghostface Killah’s mother saying she would spank Shkreli.
Images of Koza’s work used with Once Upon A Time In Shaolin are as follows:
For additional coverage of RZA and Martin Shkreli, who are among those being sued over Once Upon A Time In Shaolin, watch the following DX Daily:
lol all the drama this album has caused
We all know the album would have sucked anyway
I’ll tell you what happened, or what I assume to be more precise. They used dudes images thinking “fuck it, he won’t know, this is only one album” and boom. I bet you Shkreli probably was showing off parts of the album and dude was watching the video like “hold up, rewind that back…them MUTHAF**KAZ!!”
I hope Skreli leak at least 1 track so we can get the feel of what this album is!
He won’t cause he’s a dick!! RZA is an idiot 4 giving it to him! He don’t care about us fans. And why only one album if it’s sooo good? It probably sucks that’s why!
Good. RZA got greedy. Why shouldn’t this artist get his too?!
Yeah the moment he releases any of the material the album drastically loses its value.
I dont understand the Shkreli suit, thats just weird. But this will be interesting to watch as it will probably fall under fair use since it’s only one copy of the book that mainly serves as an educational addition to the album. What surprises me more is the use of the Wu-Tang logo in all them shits. Isn’t that a trademarked logo? *popcorn time
I bet he wishes he never made that fucking album now lol…
Those pictures are dope as fuck, though.
Kinda disappointing that Wu is getting a lot of attention because of Shkreli and an album no one heard, instead of for music their fans and the rest of the hip hop community could enjoy. I’ll always consider Wu Tang as one of my personal favorites, so it’s sad it’s all come to this.
I gave them two chances to put on a good live show, twice. I like there music but they are sloppy performers, half of them at least. I’d pay to see a couple of them again.
They’re all old and fat now. Save your money for some young rappers who aren’t out of breath walking up the stage steps.
They’re all old and fat now. Save your money for some young rappers who aren’t out of breath walking up the stage steps.
That artwork is really impressive. Wonder if we’ll ever get to hear the album? Imagine if there was like…like one unique pair of yoga pants for a fully stacked chick…I wonder which stacked chick would purchase it?
That new Ron Bon Jovi album is top notch. It’s everything I thought it would be. The title is Neaux Mursi. It’s tighter than a hooker on vacation.
how can the album be any good if they are not able to drop one good song since the deam 90´s?
I have a copy of this album….follow my Twitter…..I will leak a song this Saturday and another every following Saturday.
You are full of shit
So you draw pictures of the Wu and you let them have them, then complain that you didn’t get a cut when they used your pics because they were good. Why didn’t you ask for some money at the moment you drew them? Back the this shenanigans. Just leak the album already geez, this was too much of a fiasco.