The tech giant has managed to receive a court approval of a settlement in a case where Apple ran an ebook cartel with other publishers to jack up the price. The company has always denied that its pricing cartel was illegal and that it did anything wrong. Apple is appealing its conviction; the settlement is conditional on the tech giant not getting the case overturned on appeal.

Finally, the US District Judge approved a $450 million settlement of claims the company harmed consumers by conspiring with 5 publishers to raise e-book prices last week. When approving the settlement, the judge overcame concerns expressed over a settlement provision that allowed Apple to pay only $70 million in case the related litigation were to drag out.

That accord calls for the tech giant to compensate $400 million to its customers and $50 million to lawyers if the Federal Appeals Court in NY decides to uphold the findings of the judge, or nothing if the California-based company wins its appeal.

In the case the Appeals Court overturns the District Judge and returns the case to her, probably for a new trial, the company will owe only $50 million to consumers and $20 million to lawyers. However, in the decision, the lawyer pointed out that both the states and consumers “strongly believe” such a scenario is unlikely, and that the settlement contains provisions to reduce its likelihood. The judge also said that the plaintiffs agreed to provide more details about the settlement to consumers in order to help them choose whether to accept its terms or sue the tech giant separately over the ebook pricing cartel.