John Rylands Library has been extended four times, the first time to designs by Champneys in 1920 after the project was delayed by World War I. The Lady Wolfson Building opened in 1962 on the west side and a third extension, south of the first was built in 1969. In January 2003, an appeal to renovate the building was launched. Funds were generated from grants from the University of Manchester and Heritage Lottery Fund and donations from members of the public and companies in Manchester. The project, Unlocking the Rylands, demolished the third extension, refurbished parts of the old building and erected a
Rylands v Fletcher principle, in "Losee v. Buchanan", "Brown v. Collins", and "Marshall v. Welwood" respectively. The Supreme Court of New Jersey, however, reversed "Welwood" in 1983 in "Department of Environmental Protection v. Ventron Corp". Many courts in the United States have attempted to use "Rylands" to justify absolute liability, which it was never intended to do; while absolute liability is where no defence is applicable, in "Rylands" itself Lord Cairns accepted that there were some situations where the case should not be applied. In Australia, the principles of "Rylands v Fletcher" were "killed off" by the High Court of Australia in "Burnie