Employees at Eminem's music studio outside Detroit were surprised to discover unreleased tracks that he was still working on available for purchase on the internet, prosecutors say. So FBI agents tracked down several people who had bought them, NBC News reports, who pointed them to Joseph Strange. The 46-year-old, who worked for the rapper from 2007 to 2021, now faces charges of criminal infringement of copyright and interstate transportation of stolen goods. The criminal complaint says only three people besides Strange had access to the hard drives, which were not connected to the internet, containing the music at Eminem's studio in Ferndale.
A lawyer for Strange, who the complaint says was "let go" as a sound engineer by the artist in 2021, told the AP that the charges are "untested allegations" that have not gone before a grand jury or judge. A spokesman for Eminem, whose offstage name is Marshall Mathers, told the Detroit Free Press, "The significant damage caused by a trusted employee to Eminem's artistic legacy and creative integrity cannot be overstated, let alone the enormous financial losses incurred by the many creators and collaborators that deserve protection for their decades of work."
The FBI said an Ontario man reported buying 25 songs for about $50,000 in Bitcoin, per the New York Times. He said Strange claimed to have access to about 300 unreleased tracks. A conviction on criminal infringement of a copyright brings a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine, per NBC. Interstate transportation of stolen goods charge has a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. (More Eminem stories.)
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