The creator of a quiz that showed an image of Adolf Hitler on stadium screens before a Michigan State University football game last year is suing the school because the product "was not created for a mass-market use at an American college football game," according to reports.
The question was part of a quiz on European history that appeared before the Oct. 21 game between the Spartans and Michigan and asked where Hitler was born, the Associated Press reported.
The Hitler image also appeared to match one in an episode of The Quiz Channel on Oct. 13 on YouTube, the Lansing State Journal reported.
Floris van Pallandt, the owner of Carsilius Media, BV, and the operator of The Quiz Channel, filed the $150,000 federal suit last week against the school's Board of Regents, alleging copyright infringement and claiming the company was ridiculed in the ensuing furor over the Führer, the AP reported.
"Once this story became national and international news, Michigan State University's first response was to attempt to place the blame on Plaintiffs, stating that the use of Hitler in the quiz was the fault of the company who created the quiz," the lawsuit said, the Lansing State Journal reported.
"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.
Michigan State's statement: "This is not representative of our institutional values. MSU will not be using the third-party source going forward and will implement stronger screening and approval procedures for all videoboard content in the future," according to the Lansing State Journal.
Lawyer Jeremy Kennedy said the school threw van Pallandt under the bus, the outlet said.
"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.
A spokesperson for Michigan State told the Lansing State Court it would not comment on the lawsuit.
