In the age of 24/7 news, it’s easy to scroll through headline after headline on social media and yawn, but the Lansing State Journal published a story on Monday with a shocking and bizarre headline.
Headline: “Company sues Michigan State University over ‘unauthorized’ use of quiz about Adolf Hitler.”
MSU, of course, stands for the local Michigan State Spartans, but the rest of the headline raises a lot of questions.
According to the State Journal, here’s what happened: When Michigan State hosted arch rival Michigan State in October 2023, a quiz appeared on the stadium’s scoreboard more than an hour before the start of the game. The quiz showed an image of Hitler and asked questions about his birthplace.
The Quiz Channel, a YouTube channel that posts trivia and trivia questions, sued the university, saying the question “appears to be consistent” with one about Hitler that appeared in the Oct. 13 episode.
The company that operates the quiz channel, Cursilius Media, and its owner, Floris Van Palland, filed the lawsuit in Grand Rapids on Aug. 9, alleging copyright infringement and privacy violations by the university. The Michigan State University Board of Regents is also named as a defendant.
The Hitler question has already sparked controversy since it was posed before the match on October 21.
I know this didn’t happen. Tell me this. It didn’t happen.
Bartender!!! https://t.co/gbcQrz77fi
— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) October 22, 2023
Michigan State University blamed a “third-party source” for the content, saying, “This does not represent the values of our institution. Michigan State will no longer use third-party sources and will implement more rigorous review and approval procedures for all video board content going forward.”
The lawsuit alleges that “third-party source” is The Quiz Channel.
“When the story made national and international news, Michigan State University’s initial response was to try to shift the blame onto Plaintiffs, claiming that the company that produced the quiz was to blame for using Hitler on the quiz,” the lawsuit states.
Some observers were baffled by the fact that MSU allowed this to happen.
“Michigan State University Sued for Stealing Hitler Trivia” is somehow not an Onion article. pic.twitter.com/TKcRXRysTN
— College Sports Only (@CollegeSportsO) August 12, 2024
That’s typical Michigan. https://t.co/YZOCFGdax8
— Emotional Support Cat (@NathanHam87) August 13, 2024
I have tons of questions 🤔 https://t.co/vb7jVvtaLz
— D3AC0N (@ThatDeaconGuy) August 12, 2024
Just when I thought things were starting to calm down… https://t.co/otygtdQDAz
— LSAClassOf2000 (@LorneEC3) August 12, 2024
[Lansing State Journal]