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An engineer who once worked at Eminem's studio has been charged with stealing the rapper's unreleased music and selling it before it was leaked online earlier this year.
According to a report WXYZ in Detroit published on Wednesday, March 19, U.S. Attorney Julie Beck announced Joseph Strange has been charged with criminal infringement of a copyright and interstate transportation of stolen goods. Strange, who worked at Eminem's studio in Ferndale for 14 years, was identified as the person who allegedly stole music from a concealed hard drive and sold it to multiple people.
"Eminem and his team are very appreciative of the efforts by the FBI Detroit bureau for its thorough investigation which led to the charges against Joe Strange," Em's spokesperson Dennis Dennehy told WXYZ. "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. We will continue to take any and all steps necessary to protect Eminem's art and will stop at nothing to do so."
Employees of Eminem's studio contacted the FBI shortly after numerous songs were leaked online in January. In legal documents, they said they recognized the unreleased music from a hard drive that's not connected to the Internet, password protected, and stored in a safe. They also identified an image of a list of songs that was taken directly from the hard drive, which had not been accessed in years. The studio confirmed only three sound engineers (Joseph Strange, Mike Strange and Tony Campana) and the studio's manager John Fischer had access to the hard drive.
After artist and producer Fredwreck issued a warning about the leaked music in January, someone contacted him and provided screenshots of a chat from a user known as "Doja Rat." This person allegedly paid Joe Strange $50,000 in Bitcoin over the course of six months for the unreleased music. "Doja Rat" told investigators that they worked with a group to buy the music and accused someone from the group of leaking Em's music online. Strange allegedly sold the music to other buyers as well.
Following a search of Strange's home, FBI agents found more hard drives with music from Eminem and other artists who worked with him as well as a VHS tape with unreleased music, original hand-written lyric sheets, notes from Eminem and more. If convicted of both charges, Strange could face a maximum of 15 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.