Illustrator :: Pasting Between Documents Loses Formatting

When pasting between illustrator documents all formatting is lost and images do not move over.example, working on a new flyer, I often borrow from existing flyers since copy and pricing is good, just usually making flyers that have different combinations of products etc.
 
So I select some text boxes and images from one illustrator document, control copy and then try to control v into another illustrator document and all that gets pasted is the text which is formulated. You'd think i had copied and pasted something from notepad.
 
The problem does not happen 100% of the time, but it's like 50/50 it seems.Sometimes when the problem occurs, I'll spam control c a few times and then control v will paste as you'd expect. But the problem occurs whether I use control c, or edit copy.I'm using CS3..It even happens when I try to cut and paste within the same document.