Not necessarily. I remember having to wait a really long time until Indochine was downloadable, I think it was only around three or four years ago. And that was not a particiularly obscure film, either. I figured it was some kind of licensing issue. At one of the places I had worked, I gained some knowledge about rights management in the film biz and they are pretty complex. For instance, in a film destined to be shown in the USA, it's pretty common that English subtitles carry a separate license.
Meanwhile regarding that film, for once in my generally law abiding life I surrendered to temptation to rip a DVD that I had bought, but no matter what apps and settings I used I could not get the subtitles to sync up properly. I finally settling for ripping one without trying to take the subtitles along for the ride. I suppose it improved my French some to watch the rip after that, instead of trying to round up the DVD for a re-watch.
Sony had the rights on those subtitles, I noticed after I could finally buy a digital version. So... maybe they finally got the deal they wanted over digital downloads regarding their contribution to English-subtitled Indochine, which otherwise carried licenses from about five or six production or distribution companies. It's also possible that not Sony but one of those outfits or some subsidiary was reluctant to cut a deal that might reduce their take on DVD-format versions of the film's distribution. Bottom line it's all about paperwork and demands for compensation in exchange for a piece of one or more of those "all rights reserved"... and it can be a time-consuming process.
