RZA Responds To Method's Man Criticism Of 'Once Upon A Time In Shaolin' Auction

After getting roasted by Method Man and a whole lot of Wu Tang fans, RZA wants to clarify something about the controversial auction of the Wu album Once Upon A Time In Shaolin.

So he took to Twitter to explain that the 88 year copyright imposed on the buyer of the one-off album only applies to commercial sales.

@xxl @methodman let us clarify for you. A 88 year "non commercialization"clause. Means corporations can't buy it & mass produce it for sell — RZA! (@RZA) March 5, 2015

In other words, the person who buys the album can give it away for free. Count us among those who've always understood this, although Method Man may not have. (Which raises questions about band communication.)

But here's what RZA said about that scenario in a Q&A posted on the the album's website:

WHAT ABOUT A SCENARIO IN WHICH A PHILANTHROPIST BOUGHT THE WORK AND RELEASED IT FOR FREE? RZA – In that case, it would be a possibility. But bearing in mind the investment the owner would be making, we consider it unlikely.

It sounds like RZA was hoping the music would remain unheard for the 88 years.

So this is really more of a philosophical argument. When you consider all possible outcomes, there's a better than not chance that anybody who wants to hear Once Upon A Time In Shaolin will be able to. It's just RZA believes locking something away 88 years for art's sake would be worthwhile, whereas Method Man and Wu Tang's fans are taking a more practical stance.

Yeah, RZA's being a little batty here. But it's also been great publicity for the project. Which Wu needed after A Better Tomorrow flopped.

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