Ex-pharmacy tycoon, Martin Shkreli, is being sued by an illustrator for the illegal use of artwork featured in the $2-million album, 'Once Upon A Time in Shaolin.'
The controversial 32-year-old is facing a lawsuit that says his purchase of the $2 million Wu-Tang Clan album included drawings taken without permission. New Yorker Jason Koza, the artist of the said illustrations, is now seeking compensation from the drug executive.
The lawsuit was filed Tuesday in Manhattan federal court, and states that Koza never allowed his drawings to appear in the packaging of the said album. The album only had one copy and was sold at a private auction in 2015, the New York Post reports. Shkreli bought the album and publicly stated that the reason why he bought it was to "keep it from people."
Last year, Shkreli made negative waves when his former pharmaceutical company, Turing Pharmaceuticals raised the price of Daraprim by over 5,000 percent. Daraprim is medication used for protozoal infections and is commonly used as an antimalarial drug.
34-year-old Koza initially thought that nine of his works are only meant to appear on the rap group's fan website, WuDisciples.blogspot.com. Koza, who graduated from the Fashion Institute of Technology is blaming Robert Diggs, a.k.a. "RZA" for putting his artwork to appear in the said album without his proper consent. The artwork, which depicts Raekwon and O'l Dirty Bastard, also appeared alongside a January 29 article published at Vice.com.
According to the complaint, the artist only consented his artwork to appear on the website but not in album packages. According to Koza's lawyer, Peter Scoolidge, Wu-Tang Clan's admiration of the artwork does not make their use of it legal.
"[Koza] is obviously flattered that [Wu-Tang] loved his work so much. But that doesn't change the fact that he didn't give them permission," said Scoolidge to the New York Daily News.
Koza is seeking an unspecified amount for the illegal use of his artworks plus damages.
