Unable to paste

I am copying verbiage from one document saved in Word 2003. Trying to paste into Word 2007 document. Actually even trying to copy and paste within 2007 documents does not work.
Ctrl C or any variation to get a copy, then Ctrl V or any variation to paste = Nothing.
Clipboard is turned on.
I get an error message "Item not collected. Format not supported by Office Clipboard" when I do a Ctrl C
I understand what it is saying but why. Can I get around this?

Brian