Eminem’s ex-engineer gets slammed with federal indictment for alleged music theft

Prosecutors announced on Wednesday that one of Eminem’s former sound engineers is slammed with a federal indictment for allegedly stealing and selling the rapper’s unreleased music online. A USD 50,000 Bitcoin transaction, stolen handwritten lyric sheets, and the rapper’s videotapes have all been discovered by the FBI.

Joseph Strange, 46, of Holly, Michigan, was charged with copyright infringement and interstate transportation of stolen goods, according to Page Six.

As per the prosecution, Strange, who was let go from Eminem’s studio in the Detroit region in 2021, would receive a sentence of up to 15 years in jail if found guilty. According to investigators, Strange worked as an engineer from October 2019 to January 2020 and copied files onto an external drive.

After studio staff informed them in January about unreleased music showing up on websites like Reddit and YouTube, the theft was made public. Nevertheless, Fred Nassar, Em’s business partner, used social media to post a warning online urging others to refrain from sharing the pilfered material, which prompted detectives to track down the buyers.

Sales of the stolen music to several buyers were monitored by the authorities. One buyer, who uses the online handle Doja Rat, told detectives that he raised money from other Shady fans and paid about $50,000 in Bitcoin for 25 unreleased tunes.

US Attorney Julie Beck stated in Detroit, “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.”