A former sound engineer for award-winning rapper Eminem—also known as Marshall Mathers—was charged on Wednesday with stealing the rapper’s unreleased music and selling it for Bitcoin, according to federal prosecutors.
Joseph Strange, 46, allegedly sold 25 of Eminem’s unfinished songs to a Canadian man he met on the internet in exchange for $50,000 worth of Bitcoin, according to a criminal complaint filed in Michigan on Wednesday. Prosecutors allege that Strange stole the songs from Effigy, Eminem’s music studio that is based in Michigan, and that Strange worked for Eminem between 2007 and 2021.
“It’s important for people to understand that a criminal complaint is merely a set of allegations signed by a prosecutor and publicized by press release,” Wade Fink, a lawyer representing Strange, told Fortune. “We haven’t even been in a courtroom yet let alone had the allegations tested by a judge or jury. That’s where these allegations belong.”
A longtime spokesman for Eminem told Fortune, “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.”
Strange is being charged with criminal infringement of a copyright and interstate transportation of stolen goods for leaking the songs without Eminem’s consent, according to the complaint. The charges come after employees at the rapper’s music studio discovered that some of Eminem’s unreleased music was available on online platforms including Youtube and Reddit, triggering an FBI investigation, according to court documents.
Strange is allegedly “heavily involved” with Bitcoin and Bitcoin mining, according to witnesses interviewed in the complaint, and would only accept payment for the music in cryptocurrency.
Strange faces up to five years in prison and a fine up to $250,000 if convicted on the charge of criminal copyright infringement. He faces a maximum penalty of up to 10 years in prison if convicted on the charge of interstate transportation of stolen goods.
In 2002, a number of tracks on his “The Eminem Show” album were being sold online and on the street by pirates before the intended release date, forcing the rapper to move up the album’s release to minimize financial losses.
