Hi @rexj 

"Course copy" is done from within an existing course where the content is, and it creates a new (empty) course and then copies all the content into that new course.  At that point, the old course could be deleted and it has no effect on the copied course.

"Import course content" is done from within a course that already exists, and imports content from another course.  "Import..." is also how you would import content that is exported from another LMS (Canvas, Blackboard, etc.) as a course export file.

If your school is going to automatically create courses, assign instructors, and enroll students based on the official information in your student information system, you will want to use "Import...", because instructors need to be importing the content in to the courses that are being created from them from the SIS, not creating new courses on their own (since none of the automatically enrollment process from your SIS will apply to those...)