A former studio engineer for Eminem is facing serious legal trouble after allegedly stealing and selling the rapper’s unreleased music online. Federal prosecutors announced Wednesday that 46-year-old Joseph Strange has been charged with copyright infringement and interstate transportation of stolen goods. If convicted, he could face up to 15 years in prison.
According to an FBI affidavit, more than 25 unreleased Eminem songs were leaked online without the rapper’s or Interscope Records’ consent. The stolen music was stored on password-protected hard drives inside a safe at Eminem’s studio in Ferndale, Michigan.
Investigators say Strange, who was fired from Eminem’s studio in 2021, transferred files from a secure hard drive onto an external device in late 2019 and early 2020. Fans began noticing the unreleased music appearing on platforms like Reddit and YouTube, prompting the studio to report the theft to the FBI in January.
Authorities say the stolen music was being sold for large sums of money. One buyer, a Canadian fan using the alias “Doja Rat”, told investigators he purchased 25 Eminem songs for $50,000 in Bitcoin. Another buyer from Connecticut, known as “ATL”, allegedly paid around $1,000 for a couple of tracks.
The FBI also discovered that Strange was trying to sell Eminem’s handwritten lyric sheets, further deepening the case against him.
When federal agents raided Strange’s home in January, they found:
- 12,000 audio files containing unreleased Eminem music and other recordings
- Handwritten Eminem lyric sheets and notes
- A VHS tape of an unreleased Eminem music video
Strange’s attorney, Wade Fink, has dismissed the allegations as “untested”, emphasizing that no grand jury or judge has formally ruled on the case yet.
“We will handle the matter in a courtroom, and we have great faith in the judges of our district,” Fink said.
Eminem, whose real name is Marshall Mathers III, has not publicly commented on the situation. The legendary rapper was recently honored as the Best Hip-Hop Act at the 2024 MTV EMAs and was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2022.
Prosecutors emphasized that protecting artists from intellectual property theft is critical. Acting U.S. Attorney Julie Beck stated, “Protecting intellectual property from thieves is critical in safeguarding the exclusive rights of creators and protecting their original work from reproduction and distribution by individuals who seek to profit from the creative output of others.”
The case remains under investigation.
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