However, I'm certain that LFL has enough materials at its disposal that they could make a pristine hi-res video edition of the OUT, albeit with the investment of some time and cost, which could easily be recouped on the disc sales. The only thing that is lacking is the will to do it.
Now Jim Ward (or whoever) has talked Lucas into releasing these, against his will. Lucas has said "now we'll see which versions the fans really want" (or whatever). They are selling well, LFL will make a lot of money and Jim Ward (or whoever) will probably press for a better release in future, and Lucas may agree. Whatever way you look at it, the OUT release is a positive step for OUT fans - we're certainly better off than we were before these came out.
The issue of "owing" doesn't come into it. The films should, of course, be preserved as well as possible from a historical perspective.