A federal judge has indicated that she is likely to sign off on a negotiated $450 million settlement in government prosecution of Apple Inc. for allegedly conspiring with book publishers to inflate e-book prices.

Apple still plans to appeal U.S. District Judge Denise Cote’s ruling last year in the lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Justice that it “conspired with five of the biggest publishers to fix e-book prices in response to competition from Amazon.com Inc.,” Bloomberg reported.

In a ruling this week, Cote gave preliminary approval to the proposed settlement, finding that the dollar figures were “within the range of those that may be approved as fair and reasonable,” Bloomberg reported.

Final approval hinges on Cote’s Nov. 21 fairness hearing, at which she will hear from all parties and reach a final ruling.

If the federal appeals court agrees with Cote that the Cupertino company has indeed violated the laws, the company would pay $400 million to states and consumers, with the remaining $50 million paid to attorneys. Apple would owe nothing if the appeals court reverses Cote’s decision.

Apple could be liable for damages of upwards of $674 million stemming from claims that could be brought up in a damages trial, Bloomberg reported citing Cote.

For their part in the collusion, Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins Publishers LLC, Simon & Schuster Inc., Pearson Plc’s Penguin Group and the Macmillan unit of Verlagsgruppe Georg von Holtzbrinck GmbH have reached settlements with states and consumers totaling $166 million, according to Bloomberg.

The case is In Re Electronic Books Antitrust Litigation, 11-md-2293, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).