Once Upon a Time in Trade Secrets

The Wu-Tang Clan’s secretive album, Once Upon a Time in Shaolin, is the unicorn of recorded albums—everyone has heard of it, but only few have listened. Recently, this elusive album was at the center of a novel decision in New York federal court. PleasrDAO v. Shkreli, No. 24-CV-4126 (PKC) (MMH), 2025 WL 2733345, (E.D.N.Y. Sept. 25, 2025). On September 25, 2025, in evaluating the legal sufficiency of PleasrDAO’s argument, and whether a jury could reasonably find a trade secret violation, the court concluded that the album could qualify as a trade secret protected under the trade secret doctrine. Id.; (Aislinn Keely, Law360). This holding wades into uncharted territory and opens the door to further trade secret protections of traditionally unprotected art forms. (Aislinn Keely, Law360); (Jennifer Klausner, Davis+Gilbert). This post explores the case surrounding the uniqueness of the Wu-Tang Clan album and the implications the decision can have for other creatives.

The Wu-Tang Clan spent six years making an album that was not to be commercially released until 2103, 88 years after it was made. (Elias Leight, Rolling Stone). According to Wu-Tang Clan member, Jamiel “Masta Killa” Areif, the group intended to make the album a “musical portrait that’s going to revolutionize music in the future.” (Zach Greenburg, Forbes). The group then planned to exhibit the album at museums and galleries, on a “tour” of sorts, and sell it to the highest bidder. Id. While the “tour” never materialized, the auction did. (Elias Leight, Rolling Stone).

Martin Shkreli, a controversial pharmaceutical executive and hedge fund owner, bought the album in 2015 for $2 million. Id. The sale stipulated that the owner could duplicate or replicate it for private use but could not exploit it for commercial use. PleasrDAO, 2025 WL 2733345, at *2. Two years later, the government seized the album as part of Shkreli’s assets when he was arrested for defrauding investors. (Jonathan Stempel, Reuters). When the government auctioned off Shkreli’s assets, PleasrDAO, a digital art and artifact crypto collector, bought the album for $4.75 million. (Aislinn Keely, Law360). This new crypto-expert owner added a cryptocurrency digital component to the album, a non-fungible token (“NFT”) deed of ownership. (Elias Leight, Rolling Stone). An NFT is a unique code stored on a blockchain, creating an un-copyable and an un-hackable asset, and it allows PleasrDAO and any future owners to be placed directly on the album’s blockchain. Id. While the crypto-blockchain world may seem futuristic, this is not the first time an album has been transformed into an NFT, with When You See Yourself by Kings of Leon being the first. (Samantha Hissong, Rollingstone). NFTs are used in the art world to increase the valuation and give the art directly to the people, exactly what PleasrDAO had in mind. (Elias Leight, Rollingstone). However, Once Upon a Time in Shaolin is elusive to the public until 2103, so ultimately, Masta Killa was right. The album may still revolutionize music and PleasrDAO’s decision could enable that revolution.

After purchasing the album, PleasrDAO acquired the copyright to the album, including the exclusive rights to duplicate and replicate the album for private use, although exploitation for commercial use was strictly prohibited. PleasrDAO, 2025 WL 2733345, at *9. Following Shkreli’s 2022 prison release, he admitted to playing the album for his followers, and tweeted that he had made copies. Id. at *3. PleasrDAO then sued Shkreli for various claims, including violations of the Defend Trade Secrets Act (“Claim Two”), and misappropriation of trade secrets (“Claim Three”). Id. at *1. The court dismissed PleasrDAO’s three remaining claims, and in granting Claim Two and Claim Three, the court applied the six-factor trade-secret determination test from Integrated Cash Mgmt. Servs., Inc. v. Digit. Transactions, Inc. Id. at *7. The court stipulated that these factors are guideposts to stating a claim, not the elements of said claim. Id. Applying these factors, the court analyzed (1) the extent to which the album was known inside and outside the business, (2) the measures taken to guard the album’s secrecy, (3) the value of the album to PleasrDAO and its competitors, and (4) the ability to acquire or duplicate the album. Id.

The court found that the Wu-Tang Clan made only one copy of the album, never publicly released it, and subjected it to an eighty-eight-year restriction while Shkreli owned it. (Jennifer Klausner, Davis+Gilbert). The court determined that PleasrDAO used reasonable security measures to guard the album, including armed guards, controlled entry and exit, and continuous video surveillance. Id. The court went on to find that PleasrDAO successfully distinguished the album from typical recorded musical works not usually protected under trade secret law but acknowledged that applying the trade secret doctrine to a commercially unreleased album was uncharted territory. Id. In coming to this conclusion, the court emphasized the amount PleasrDAO paid for the album—over $4 million—and the intrinsic value of the secrecy and exclusivity of the album. Id. Given PleasrDAO’s unique business model, which generates independent economic value that competitors cannot replicate through traditional commercial releases or distribution systems, coupled with the album’s unique restrictions to protect music devaluation, the court saw fit to decide that this album could be protected by the trade secret doctrine. Id. While the court found that Once Upon a Time in Shaolin could constitute a protected trade secret, the argument was merely deemed legally sufficient, and was enough to survive, in part, a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. Id.

While Once Upon a Time in Shaolin was designed to change the music industry, that vision once seemed far ahead of its time. Now, the recent ruling in PleasrDAO may signal its moment. The court allowed claims under the trade secret doctrine to proceed, suggesting that music-lovers all around the world should expect to see more creatives utilizing this doctrine. (Jennifer Klausner, Davis+Gilbert). Although the Wu-Tang Clan may be one of the first to obtain trade secret protection for a musical album, it may not be the last if the case proceeds. Id. Still, it does remain to be seen whether a court will take that position, as this court merely found that the album may be a trade secret, allowing those claims to survive a motion to dismiss. (Jennifer Klausner, Davis+Gilbert).