Gaffer Tape said:

Maybe one day software will be advanced enough to "create" enough on a guess that it could accurately resemble what a high-definition image would look like, but could you still even consider that the original anymore?

Well, that is kind of what I had in mind. I'm not saying it would be the best option, but if such technology becomes available, and the original negatives become so degraded that there's no way to restore them in a more conventionable way, then I can't see why it shouldn't be done.