Wu- Tang Clan has released an official statement regarding the 88-year noncommercial clause surrounding their Once Upone a Time in Shaolin album. Here's official statement regarding the album obtained by HHDX:

Only one single copy of Once Upon A Time In Shaolin was ever to be made. This has been the case since the very first announcement. A commercial release was never planned. The right to commercialize it, meaning the right to sell it en mass to the public in any form is not allowed until 88 years from now. If the public rights were handed over now, then this would be a record deal like any other. Not the sale of a single copy. It can be exhibited publically and it can be given away for free. But it cannot be commercialized as a conventional album release until 2013. Even then, it will be the owner's decision to release it or keep it as a single unit, not the Wu-Tang.

The lucky buyer of Once Upon a Time in Shaolin can share the music, but will have to do it for free. As mentioned during the private listening event, the decision to add this clause to the deal was made in an effort to break free of modern-day streaming companies like Spotify and YouTube, which encourage freely-shared music.

There has been a lot of confusion surrounding the exclusive album, which has been hidden away for the last six years. Last week, RZA, Cilvaringz and Sasha Frere-Jones held a private listening of the LP at PS1, the Queens outpost of New York’s Museum of Modern Art. On Monday (March 2), Forbes learned that after the album gets sold, an 88-year copyright clause will forbid the buyer from sharing the album commercially.

While speaking with XXL about his upcoming movie, The Cobbler, Method Man expressed his concern with clause pretty boldly, saying "F*ck that album." RZA quickly took to Twitter to respond to Meth's comments, explaining the clause in a series of tweets.

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