Eminem’s Former Employee Pleads Guilty to Leaking Rapper’s Unreleased Music

Joseph Strange, who worked for rap artist for 14 years, deals with 5 years in jail on charge of criminal violation of a copyright

The previous staff member of Eminem who was detained for offering the rap artist’s unreleased music has actually pleaded guilty to a charge of criminal violation of a copyright.

The United States Department of Justice revealed Thursday that 48-year-old Joseph Strange, who worked for Eminem in Detroit from 2007 to 2021, pleaded guilty in the Eastern District of Michigan, 18 months after Strange’s arrest.

According to the criminal problem versus Strange, Eminem initially realised in January 2025 that a few of his unreleased music had actually dripped online and was readily available for sale. The FBI were gotten in touch with, with the examination revealing numerous people that bought the unreleased music. Those people recognized Joseph Strange as the individual offering the music.

“Joseph Strange abused a position of trust to unlawfully copy and offer unreleased music coming from Eminem, making money from works that were not yet licensed for public circulation,” Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division stated in a declaration. “His conduct weakened both legal and creative rights. The Criminal Division stays dedicated to safeguarding copyright, holding responsible those who look for to make money from theft of imaginative material, and dealing with our police partners to hinder and interfere with these criminal activities.”

Odd was at first charged with criminal violation of a copyright and interstate transport of taken items, however eventually just pleaded guilty to the previous; the Justice Department evaluated the worth of the dripped tracks– which were “accessed more than 8 million times”– at $750,000. Odd confront 5 years in jail when he’s sentenced on January 27.

“Today’s guilty plea enhances an easy concept: responsibility follows those who jeopardize the stability of another individual’s imaginative labor,” Special Agent in Charge Jennifer Runyan of the FBI Detroit Field Office stated in a declaration. “We likewise value the cooperation of Mathers Music Studio throughout the examination. Safeguarding copyright indicates securing the time, skill, and incomes behind it, and we will continue to deal with these offenses with the severity they are worthy of.”

A representative for the rap artist did not right away respond to an ask for remark.