Technology Oct. 03, 2008 - 05:42AM JST ( 2 )

SAN FRANCISCO —

Apple has warned that a hike in digital music royalties being considered by U.S. judges could be a death knell for its globally popular iTunes online shop.

The Copyright Royalty Board was to rule Thursday whether music publishers are legally entitled to a bigger bite of the money Apple charges for digitized songs at iTunes. The decision is not to be made public until next week.

Publishers currently get nine of the 99 cents iTunes charges per song and argue in a lawsuit filed in Washington DC that their cut should be 15 cents.

ITunes vice president Eddy Cue said in testimony to the board that raising prices to cover increased royalty fees would cause song sales to plummet and if Apple absorbs a fee hike it would probably operate at a loss.

“Apple has repeatedly made clear it is in the business to make money and most likely would not continue to operate iTunes store if it were no longer possible to do so profitably,” Cue said in court documents.

ITunes song sales topped five billion in June and the northern California firm’s iconic chief executive Steve Jobs touts the online shop as the biggest music store in the United States.

The iTunes catalogue lists more than eight million songs.

Apple is fighting for a slight reduction in the royalty fee, saying that competition and piracy threats call for ongoing spending on research and technology.

“This is a risky business with small margins that can ill afford to be freighted with additional costs,” Cue said in court documents.

“This industry needs reduced, not increased, costs in order to attract the investments necessary to its growth and stability.”

Wire reports