A former Eminem studio engineer is charged with stealing the Detroit rapper’s unreleased music and promoting it on-line, federal prosecutors introduced Wednesday.
Investigators say greater than 25 songs have been performed or distributed on-line with out the consent of Eminem or Interscope Capital Labels Group, which owns Eminem’s music. The music was saved on password-protected exhausting drives stored in a secure at Eminem’s studio in Ferndale, Michigan, in response to an FBI affidavit.
Joseph Unusual, 46, of Holly, Michigan, is charged with copyright infringement and interstate transportation of stolen items, Appearing U.S. Lawyer Julie Beck in Detroit mentioned. Unusual, who misplaced his job at Eminem’s studio in 2021, might resist 15 years in jail if convicted of each counts.
Unusual’s legal professional, Wade Fink, mentioned in a textual content to The Related Press that Unusual is a married father of two “with many years of dedication to the music business.″ He referred to as the costs “untested allegations” that have not been vetted by a grand jury or a choose.
“We are going to deal with the matter in a courtroom and we’ve nice religion within the judges of our district,” he mentioned.
Studio workers reported the theft to the FBI in January, saying unreleased music that was nonetheless in improvement was being performed on numerous web sites, together with Reddit and YouTube.
A overview confirmed somebody transferred information from a tough drive in a secure to an exterior exhausting drive in October 2019 and January 2020, when Unusual was a sound engineer on the studio.
Investigators discovered patrons after Eminem enterprise affiliate Fred Nassar posted an internet warning to followers to not distribute the music.
A Canadian resident who used the display identify Doja Rat informed investigators he had bought 25 unreleased songs from Unusual for about $50,000 in Bitcoin. He mentioned he raised the cash from a gaggle of followers of Eminem, whose actual identify is Marshall Mathers III.
Unusual additionally was attempting to promote a few of Eminem’s handwritten lyric sheets, Doja Rat mentioned.
One other group of followers organized by somebody in Connecticut utilizing the display identify ATL additionally bought a “couple” of songs from Unusual for about $1,000, in response to the affidavit.
An FBI search of Unusual’s residence in January turned up quite a few handwritten Eminem lyric sheets and notes; a VHS tape of an unreleased Eminem video; and exhausting drives with 12,000 audio information. The music was in numerous levels of improvement and created by Eminem in addition to by different unidentified artists working with him.
Eminem won for best hip hop act on the 2024 MTV EMAs and was inducted into the Rock & Roll Corridor of Fame in 2022.
The affidavit notes that Unusual signed an settlement as a part of his severance package deal that particularly prohibited him from electronically circulating Eminem’s work.
“Defending mental property from thieves is crucial in safeguarding the unique rights of creators and defending their authentic work from copy and distribution by people who search to revenue from the inventive output of others,” Beck mentioned in a information launch.
