A former Eminem employee was charged in the flight of a batch of rapper's unprecedented equipment.
Joseph Strange, 46, was accused Wednesday of violation of the criminal copyright and interstate transport of stolen goods. The FBI said that several Eminem fans had paid $ 50,000 in Bitcoin for 25 unpublished songs in January in January, all recorded by the rapper (real name Marshall Mathers) between 1999 and 2018.
The FBI has discovered thousands of songs stored on hard drives in the Strange Detroit house, as well as handwritten words and a clip without publication. Strange, an audio engineer at the Eminem of Eminem recording studio, worked there from 2007 to 2021.
“The protection of intellectual property of thieves is essential to protect the exclusive rights of creators and protect their original work against reproduction and distribution by people who seek to take advantage of the creative production of others,” the acting American lawyer Julie Beck said in a media statement on Wednesday.
Strange was one of the only four employees with protected access by password to equipment, according to the criminal complaint. “Joseph Strange has helped configure and use the hard hard drive that contains the music created by Mathers,” he read. “This system is not connected to the Internet and only a few people have access to the system.”
The FBI said in the criminal complaint that it had discovered the source of the leak when Fred Nasser, a longtime producer for Eminem and Dr. Dre, posted on social networks that his team actively sought the leaks. A fan contacted Nasser with cat recordings between him and an Eminem fan (passing by “Doja Rat”) who claimed to have bought the Strange tracks.
In a Declaration to the free press DetroitThe rapper's spokesman said: “Eminem and his team appreciate the efforts of the FBI Detroit office for his in-depth investigation.
“The significant damage caused by an employee of trust in the artistic heritage of Eminem and the creative integrity cannot be overestimated, not to mention the enormous financial losses suffered by the many creators and collaborators who deserve protection during their decades of work,” continued the press release. “We will continue to take all the necessary measures to protect the art of Eminem and will stop at nothing to do it.”
