A Texas district court judge ruled last week that the state’s law prohibiting craft brewers from negotiating their distribution rights violates the Texas Constitution.

Per the R Street institute, Texas law requires craft brewers to distribute their beer through “territorially exclusive distributor agreements.” Traditionally, distributors paid for these exclusive distribution rights, but in 2013 the state passed SB 639 which represented a major change in craft brewery regulation in the state.

The 2013 law gave distribution rights to distributors without compensating the breweries. Perhaps even more upsetting to brewers was that distributors could then sell those rights to other distributors. As the Dallas Observer noted, “this eliminated an entire revenue stream for breweries and allowed distributors to profit off their work.”

Three small craft breweries challenged the law claiming it negatively impacted their businesses. According to the Freestone County Times, the attorney for the brewers, Matt Miller, cited Section 19 of Article 1 of the Texas Constitution and argued the law, which gave beer wholesalers the right to sign and profit from exclusive distribution agreements, “deprived the creators of the product from realizing its full value.”

Supporters of the law maintain it protects Texas’ system of alcohol regulation by dictating how craft beer is sold. Per the San Antonio Current, “This system requires that after a product is made, it must be sold to a distributor who in turn sells it to the public. It also meant that territorial distribution rights belong to distributors, not brewers.”

The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission has 30 days to appeal the decision. A law similar to the Texas bill was enacted in Kentucky in 2014, and comparable efforts are underway in other states.