EAST LANSING, Mich. (WILX) – The creator of a YouTube quiz channel is suing Michigan State University (MSU), claiming the university’s athletic department used his video without permission.
On October 21, 2023, the MSU athletic department showed a quiz on video boards at Spartan Stadium during the pregame between the University of Michigan and MSU. According to the lawsuit, MSU used the quizzes from the YouTube channel owned by Floris van Pallandt.
At one point, the quiz included a question about Adolf Hitler’s birthplace and showed a picture of Hitler. This sparked nationwide concern because the picture was shown just two weeks after the start of the war between Israel and Hamas.
The lawsuit states that van Pallandt became aware of the unauthorized use of the quiz when the news broke. Van Pallandt said MSU initially tried to blame the broadcaster, claiming the use of Hitler in the quiz was the broadcaster’s fault. Van Pallandt said in the lawsuit that the quiz was created as a general knowledge quiz on The Quiz Channel.
In 2023, the MSU suspended the employee in question for allowing the publication of a picture of Hitler.
The lawsuit states that if the university’s athletic department had contacted Van Pallandt, he would have created a customized quiz appropriate to the venue and event.
“However, Michigan State failed to take this step and used the quiz without permission,” the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit also alleges that Van Pallandt was harmed by MSU’s labeling of the video as “inappropriate content from a third-party source.”
Van Pallandt is demanding damages of up to $150,000.
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