EAST LANSING, Mich. — Michigan State has been sued over the Adolf Hitler question that appeared on Spartan Stadium screens before a game last season, with the quiz’s creator saying that the university didn’t have permission to use its product and that the quiz “was not created for a mass-market use at an American college football game.”
Floris van Pallandt, owner of Carsilius Media BV and operator of The Quiz Channel on YouTube, filed a federal lawsuit against the school’s board of regents last week that asks for $150,000 in damages plus legal fees. Van Pallandt alleges that using the quiz was copyright infringement and that the company was subject to disparagement and ridicule for Michigan State’s public showing of the Hitler question, “especially in light of current events.”
The question appeared Oct. 21 during pregame of Michigan State’s matchup with Michigan. Spartan Stadium videoboards ran a stream of the YouTube channel, and among the 40 questions on the European history quiz was one asking where Hitler was born. A photo of him was displayed before Austria was shown as the answer.
University spokesperson Emily Gerkin Guerrant did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.
The employee responsible for showing the quiz was disciplined; the university issued a public apology; and athletic director Alan Haller said his department was accountable for all content on its videoboards.
The Michigan-Michigan State game was two weeks after the start of the war between Israel and Hamas.
An athletic department spokesperson, in a separate apology, characterized the quiz as “inappropriate content by a third-party source” and said the school would not use the third-party source going forward.
In his lawsuit, Van Pallandt said that MSU did not have permission to use the quiz and that, “once its theft was uncovered,” the university attempted to damage the reputation of Van Pallandt and Carsilius Media.
“The quiz that was used without permission was not created for a mass-market use at an American college football game, and Plaintiff does not believe it should have been used at such a time or at such an event, especially in light of current events,” the lawsuit said.
Van Pallandt, a citizen of the Netherlands whose business is based in Colombia, said in the lawsuit that if MSU had reached out to him, he could have put together a customized quiz appropriate for the venue and event and charged an appropriate fee.
“At a minimum, this attempt to deflect blame is dishonest by omitting any comments about Michigan State’s role in this fiasco,” the lawsuit said.