The Babe’s Daughter Finally Gets Royalties

For decades, Julia Ruth Stevens received very little in the way of royalty checks from companies that used images of her father, baseball player Babe Ruth, in their advertising campaigns. “Most people didn’t bother to ask me for permission to use Daddy’s name,” Ruth Stevens said. Eventually, she hired an agent, and now the 80-year-old woman collects more than $100,000 a year in royalty payments. CMG Worldwide, a Fishers, Ind.-based company, now controls Ruth’s image, along with marketing rights to about 120 deceased celebrities, including Lou Gehrig, Jack Dempsey and Vince Lombardi. CMG charges advertisers from $5,000 to $15,000 to use images of deceased celebrities in their ads. The firm reported $15 million in 1997 revenue.