It is annoying when you can't get a book in your format of choice. In some cases, the rights are confused--with older books, the author may retain eBook rights (or worse, they're contested between the publisher and author). Of course, there are also geographical rights issues (e.g., you're buying a book from the US publisher but the Danish publisher hasn't come out with it yet). Rights issues are a mess, but most especially this is the case for older books. For newer books, I'd think the first publisher would request worldwide electronic rights, which would mean that they could promptly offer eBooks worldwide (I certainly don't go to contract without getting worldwide electronic rights).
Rob Preece
Publisher,
www.BooksForABuck.com