Broderbund Software developed The Print Shop, a program to produce signs and greeting cards, running on Apple II computers.

In defense, Unison invoked the merger doctrine, arguing that the idea behind the user interface could not be separated from its expression, so could not be protected by copyright.

"[4] The court rejected "defendant's argument that the overall structure, sequencing, and arrangement of screens in [the program] fall outside the ambit of copyright protection.

[6] The court said, "the idea of 'Print Shop' is the creation of greeting cards, banners, posters and signs that contain infinitely variable combinations of text, graphics and borders.

[3] In Digital Communications Associates v. Softklone (1987) the court rejected Broderbund, holding that showing screen replication was not sufficient.