Google Docs: Using a doc as a template

I used Google Docs for shared projects. Most of our documents are based on a standard format and so I’ve created a “template” document. But I’m having trouble making it useful. Is there any way to set this document as a template so that when I open it, it automatically will save as a new document?

Additionally, even if there isn’t a fancy template function, I can’t seem to figure out how to copy a block of text from one document and paste it in another. The standard highlight-CtrlV-CtrlC doesn’t seem to work.