I've only just seen this thread. I seem to be able to copy text from any PDF - at least, I haven't failed yet. Viewing a PDF file in KPDF (Linux), click on the Select tool, drag a rectangle around the text and choose between copying text or image.

I used to do something similar with Foxit in Windows.

@JohninKansas: If someone really wants to let you copy the text, the font they used can be embedded in the PDF file, but thus far I've never seen a PDF where that was done, with the exception of a very few "rare foreign language" (to me) documents intended for distribution for multi-national use.

I regularly send out certificates in PDF format, and embed the non-standard display fonts used - it's very useful.

Phil