A former studio engineer has found himself in hot water after being charged with stealing unreleased music from the renowned rapper Eminem and selling it online without consent.
According to FBI prosecutors, Joseph Strange, a 46-year-old from Michigan, allegedly played or distributed over 25 songs by Eminem without permission from the artist or Interscope Capital Labels Group. Strange, who lost his job at Eminem’s studio in 2021, now faces charges of copyright infringement and interstate transportation of stolen goods.
If convicted on both counts, Strange could face up to 15 years in prison. However, he denies the charges brought against him. Acting US Attorney Julie Beck in Detroit expressed the severity of the case and the consequences that Strange could potentially face.
The stolen music was reportedly stored on password-protected hard drives kept in a safe at Eminem’s studio in Ferndale, a Detroit suburb. The theft was reported to the FBI by studio employees earlier this year after discovering that unreleased music was being shared on various online platforms.
Investigations revealed that the files were transferred from a hard drive in a safe to an external hard drive in 2019 and 2020, when Strange was working at the studio as a sound engineer. Eminem’s business associate also warned fans not to distribute the music online, leading to the identification of buyers.
One buyer, a Canadian resident using the screen name Doja Rat, admitted to purchasing 25 unreleased songs from Strange for approximately $50,000 in Bitcoin. Doja Rat claimed to have raised the money from a group of fans and mentioned that Strange was also attempting to sell some of Eminem’s handwritten lyric sheets.
Additionally, another group of fans organized by someone in Connecticut, using the screen name ATL, purchased a few songs from Strange for around $1,000.
Strange’s attorney, Wade Fink, defended his client, describing him as a dedicated individual with a long history in the music industry. Fink addressed the charges as untested allegations that have yet to be thoroughly examined by a grand jury or judge.
