A federal judge said she was unlikely to grant ownership of nearly 6,000 Titanic artefacts to the company that holds sole salvage rights to the sunken luxury liner.
Officials from RMS Titanic were in US District Court to set the parameters for a trial later this year concerning the compensation the company should receive for its work salvaging the ship and preserving the artefacts.
"At this point, you should count on a negative response," US District Court Judge Rebecca Smith told company executives. "You will not be entitled to full title of all of the artefacts."
The company says it is owed $225 million in compensation for the five salvage dives it has financed.
That price tag includes the estimated value of the artefacts: $71.5 million.
The company and its stockholders have never realised the riches that they imagined when they invested in the company, especially upon release of the 1997 blockbuster Titanic movie. Shares of RMS Titanic stock have dipped as low as seven cents.
The company was willing to give up a lucrative salvage award in exchange for unrestricted ownership, which meant the company could have done whatever it wanted with the artefacts, including selling each piece individually.
Judge Smith said she would issue a formal opinion by mid-August. Still open is the question of how the company will receive its compensation. Judge Smith will settle that issue following the October trial. Among her options are an auction of the collection or sale to a museum.
RMS Titanic continues a number of worldwide exhibits of some of the artefacts and cares for the bulk of them at a warehouse in Atlanta, where the company is based.
Company President Arnie Geller told the judge he plans to keep the collection intact and available for public view. That differs from earlier company plans to sell some of the artefacts in groups.
"We have now recognised the importance of keeping the collection together," Mr Geller said in court.
Complicating matters for the company is a treaty signed by Britain that would classify the site as a grave and greatly restrict retrieval of artefacts. The treaty cannot be enforced until the United States, Canada and France sign it. None of the countries has agreed to that.
The famed Titanic sunk on its maiden voyage after striking an iceberg in the North Atlantic. Of the 2,228 passengers and crew, 705 were saved. The wreck was discovered in 1985.