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Message: [QUOTE="Bombastus, post: 93883, member: 2178"] Eminem's former studio worker Joseph Strange has admitted to selling at least 10 secret audio files for about $50,000. The 48-year-old from Holly, Michigan, pleaded guilty to a federal copyright offense after music by the Detroit rapper, whose real name is Marshall Mathers, reached buyers on the internet. And the reach was no small deal. Tracks from the leak went up on streaming apps without the artist's approval. By the latest count cited in court, those files had racked up over 8 million plays or accesses. Here's where the cash figures get wild. Federal officials put the value of the infringement at no less than $750,000. That's at least 15 times what Strange made from the sales. The estimate isn't the same as money he took home, though. Strange had worked with Eminem for about 14 years, starting in 2007. His job at the Ferndale studio involved setting up and looking after the computer network used to store music. That gave him access to locked hard drives with songs and other work that fans had never heard. At some point, he made copies of files without permission and later sent them to buyers online. Some tracks had gone through studio mastering for a possible release, but there were no firm plans to put them out. That choice still belonged to Eminem and his team. The case began after studio staff came across the music for sale. They also recognized a photo of a track list that had come from a drive kept at the site. That led them to contact the FBI, which traced several buyers back to Strange. Early claims covered more than 25 songs from Eminem's work between 1999 and 2018. Those tracks had appeared or been shared online without consent from the rapper or his label. The guilty plea, however, concerns the sale of at least 10 files. Strange could get as much as five years behind bars. A federal judge in Detroit will decide the actual term under sentencing rules, which take account of the value involved and whether the music was being readied for sale. There was another charge at first. Prosecutors had accused him of moving stolen goods across state lines, an offense that carried a possible 10-year term. They agreed to drop that count as part of his plea deal. The copyright case had also carried a potential $250,000 fine. His lawyer, Wade Fink, says Strange accepts blame and has deep regret about the toll on his family. But Fink disputes the way officials have portrayed the case, arguing that the full facts are more complex than the public claims suggest. Eminem's camp sees the matter quite differently. Spokesperson Dennis Dennehy has raised concerns about harm to the rapper's work and the people who helped make it. He also made clear that the team wants Strange held to account. Other artists have faced leaks as well. Ariana Grande has sued unknown people over claims that 45 private songs, along with photos and video, were stolen. A judge let her seek records from Instagram, TikTok, and PayPal to help find those involved. In another case, UK hacker Adrian Kwiatkowski got an 18-month jail term after selling music from cloud accounts linked to artists such as Ed Sheeran and Lil Uzi Vert. Police found 1,263 tracks from 89 acts on one of his drives. The key difference here is how the files were accessed. Strange had legitimate access through his job, rather than breaking into an artist's account from outside. With the plea entered, his punishment is still up to the court. [/QUOTE]

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