I find this decision from a Massachusetts court fascinating. Basically two firms created workplace manuals that were full of the crappy sorts of cliches and jargon.

One firm accused the other of stealing its ideas in creating its manuals. In fact, the second company was made up of ex-employees from the first company, and they admit to using what they learned at the first company in producing their own manual. However, the judge eloquently points out that these vapid concepts are not protected by copyright.

If you follow intellectual property law at all, you might want to read more.