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A man who worked at an Oakland County recording studio affiliated with Eminem is being accused in a federal criminal complaint of selling some of his unreleased music, court records said.
Joseph Strange, 46, of Holly, allegedly stole computer hard drives from Marshall Mathers’ Ferndale music studio that contained unreleased music created by the rap star and sold it on the Internet, according to a complaint FBI agents filed this week in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan in Detroit.
Investigators seek to charge Strange with two counts of criminal infringement of copyright, a 5-year felony, and a count of interstate transportation of stolen goods, a 10-year felony.
“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,” Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan Julie Beck said in a statement.
Strange’s attorney, Birmingham criminal defense lawyer Wade Fink, told The Detroit News: “When the government files a criminal complaint, the allegations are completely untested by anyone but the prosecutor. No grand jury, no judge, no trial jury has been presented any evidence. We will defend this married father of two in a court of law.”
In a statement to The Detroit News, Dennis Dennehy, a longtime representative for Eminem, said the artist 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. 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.”
According to the complaint, the defendant worked for Mathers from 2007 until he was let go in 2021.
On or about Jan. 16, a member of Mathers’ staff contacted FBI agents in Detroit to report they found unreleased music the rapper created was available online, court records said. Employees told agents they recognized the music and a list of songs as items on a hard drive taken from the Ferndale studio.
Investigators identified and located multiple individuals who bought the unreleased music, court documents said. Agents spoke with the buyers, who told them Joseph Strange sold them the music.
One of the buyers, an Ontario resident, told investigators he sent Strange an estimated $50,000 worth of Bitcoin payments over about six months, according to the federal complaint.
On Jan. 28, agents executed a search warrant at Strange’s Holly home and recovered evidence, including the allegedly stolen hard drives that contained copies of the unreleased music sold online as well as handwritten notes/lyric sheets Mathers created, the complaint said.
“This investigation underscores the FBI’s commitment to safeguarding artists’ intellectual property from exploitation by individuals seeking to profit illegally,” said Cheyvoryea Gibson, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI in Michigan, in a statement Wednesday.
cramirez@detroitnews.com
@CharlesERamirez
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