Super Zaxxon

Commodore 64 licensing

Hesware's C64 license deal was the result of a scheme by one of SEGA's own lawyers, Robert Crane. After having sublicensed Zaxxon to Synapse using his position at SEGA through his own company Universal Licensing, he tried something similar for Super Zaxxon. However, the emerging copyright issues and Crane being laid off at SEGA in January 1984 soon caused complications. At one point, Crane signed with two different pseudonyms for Universal. Eventually, the whole thing blew up. Paramount's (SEGA's parent company) deputy general counsel and senior president Joshua Wattles later testified that Paramount paid HES $200,000 in exchange for withholding Super Zaxxon so Synapse could market Zaxxon first.

Sources: The case is described in Lawyers on Trial: Understanding Ethical Misconduct by Richard L. Abel. A shorter summary can also be found in the Entertainment Law Reporter, April 1991 issue.