Late last week, a federal district court judge dismissed a lawsuit regarding the image of a naked baby’s genitals on Nirvana’s landmark 1991 “Nevermind” album. The judge concluded that the person whose genitalia were depicted could not sue for damages for the picture’s ongoing distribution. This unfortunate ruling misconstrues an important federal law protecting child sex abuse imagery victims and should be reversed on appeal by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Spencer Elden was four months old when he was gagged and photographed underwater—with a photo emphasizing his exposed genitals forming the centerpiece of Nirvana’s album cover. In a lawsuit filed last year, the now 31-year-old Elden argued that the image constituted child sex abuse imagery (sometimes referred to, inaccurately, as child “pornography”). Under a federal statute known as Masha’s law, victims of the production, distribution, and promotion of such images can sue those involved for damages. Elden sued the band Nirvana and the photographer that it hired for continuing to distribute his picture.