Ex-Eminem employee pleads guilty to federal copyright law after selling unreleased tracks
DETROIT, MICHIGAN - JUNE 06: Eminem performs onstage at Live from Detroit: The Concert at Michigan Central" at Michigan Central Station on June 06, 2024 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Aaron J. Thornton/Getty Images)
(FOX 2) - An Oakland County man and former employee of Eminem has pleaded guilty to federal charges after he published unreleased music created by the Metro Detroit artist.
Joseph Strange, 48, of Holly, created copies of music in development by Marshall Mathers from his studio in Ferndale. He then sold and transmitted the copies on the internet.
He earned $50,000 from the sales — doing so without Mathers' knowledge, according to a news release from the justice department. The copies eventually found their way online and were available on public streaming platforms.
Strange pleaded guilty to a copyright crime and will be sentenced in January 2027.
Eminem employee pleads guilty
Big picture view:
Strange "abused a position of trust" when he made copies of unreleased music and sold them without authorization, an assistant attorney general from the DOJ's criminal division said.
"His conduct undermined both legal and artistic rights," said A. Tysen Duva. "The Criminal Division remains committed to protecting intellectual property, holding accountable those who seek to profit from theft of creative content, and working with our law enforcement partners to deter and disrupt these crimes."
Strange helped set up and run the computer where music made by Eminem was stored. He had access to the hard drives that "contained music in the process of being developed by Mathers and that was not yet meant to be released to the public," the DOJ said.
Between July and August 2024, Strange made copies of 10 or more audio files of music.
Dig deeper:
There was no commercial release of the material, but there was effort behind the music to eventually be made public.
According to data from streaming providers, the audio tracks were accessed more than 8 million times, leading to an estimated infringement amount of $750,000.
He pleaded guilty to criminal infringement of a copyright and will be sentenced on Jan. 27, 2027.
He could face up to five years in prison.
The Source: The U.S. Department of Justice was cited for this story.