A former Eminem studio engineer is charged with stealing the rap star’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. Legal professional Julie Beck in Detroit stated. Unusual, who misplaced his job at Eminem’s studio in 2021, may resist 15 years in jail if convicted of each counts.
Unusual’s legal professional, Wade Fink stated in a textual content to The Related Press that Unusual is a married father of two “with decades of dedication to the music industry” and the charges “untested allegations” that have not been vetted by a grand jury or a choose.
“We will handle the matter in a courtroom and we have great faith in the judges of our district,” he stated.
Studio workers reported the theft to the FBI in January, saying unreleased music that was nonetheless in improvement was being performed on varied web sites, together with Reddit and YouTube.
A evaluation confirmed somebody transferred recordsdata 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 a web based warning to followers to not distribute the music.
A Canadian resident who used the display identify Doja Rat advised investigators he had bought 25 unreleased songs from Unusual for about $50,000 in Bitcoin. He stated 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 stated.
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 house 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 recordsdata. The music was in varied levels of improvement and created by Eminem in addition to by different unidentified artists working with him.
The affidavit notes that Unusual signed an settlement as a part of his severance bundle that particularly prohibited him from electronically circulating Eminem’s work.
“Protecting intellectual property from thieves is critical in safeguarding the exclusive rights of creators and protecting their original work from reproduction and distribution by individuals who seek to profit from the creative output of others,” Beck stated in a information launch.
