A former sound engineer who once worked with rapper Eminem is now facing serious legal trouble. Federal prosecutors have charged Joseph Strange, 46, of Holly, Michigan, with stealing and selling the rapper’s unreleased music on the internet. The FBI investigation uncovered stolen lyric sheets, videotapes, and a $50,000 Bitcoin deal tied to the illegal sales.

Page Six reported that Strange has been indicted on charges of copyright infringement and transporting stolen goods across state lines. He worked at Eminem’s Detroit-area studio until he was fired in 2021. If convicted, he could face up to 15 years in prison. Investigators claim that Strange secretly copied files onto an external drive between October 2019 and January 2020 while still employed as an engineer.

The theft came to light in January after studio employees noticed unreleased Eminem tracks popping up on websites like Reddit and YouTube. Eminem’s business associate, Fred Nassar, took action by posting warnings on social media, urging fans not to spread the stolen music. This helped investigators track down people who had bought the stolen content.

According to authorities, Strange sold the unreleased songs to multiple buyers. One buyer, known online as “Doja Rat,” told investigators he spent about $50,000 in Bitcoin to buy 25 tracks, raising the money from other Eminem fans. Another buyer, known as “ATL” from Connecticut, reportedly bought several tracks for $1,000.


When FBI agents raided Strange’s home, they found several items linked to Eminem. These included handwritten lyric sheets, a VHS copy of an unreleased video, and hard drives containing over 12,000 audio files.

U.S. Attorney Julie Beck from Detroit emphasized the importance of protecting artists’ intellectual property. “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,” she said in a press release.

Eminem, known for hits like “Godzilla,” has not made any public statements about the case so far.

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