Joseph Strange Pleads Guilty in Eminem Music Case

Joseph Strange pleaded guilty to criminal copyright infringement involving Eminem’s unreleased music, admitting to copying and selling recordings without authorization. The U.S. Department of Justice announced the plea on October 22, 2026, in federal court in the Eastern District of Michigan. Prosecutors said Strange sold at least 10 audio files online for about $50,000 in July and August 2024. The sales took place after his employment with Eminem ended, according to the case announcement. Eminem, whose legal name is Marshall Mathers, had not approved or known about the sales, prosecutors said. Strange worked at Eminem’s studio in Ferndale, Michigan, from 2007 to 2021. His duties included helping run the computer system that stored music in progress, giving him access to recordings held on password-protected drives, according to prosecutors. The recordings were not authorized for public release. Some had been professionally mastered, but prosecutors said there was no certainty they would be commercially released. The music later appeared online and on public streaming platforms. Prosecutors cited streaming-provider data showing that the identified files had been accessed more...