diff --git a/pandas/core/reshape/merge.py b/pandas/core/reshape/merge.py
index 6c5154b90d614..37013a5d1fb8f 100644
--- a/pandas/core/reshape/merge.py
+++ b/pandas/core/reshape/merge.py
@@ -134,7 +134,7 @@ def merge(
     right_index: bool = False,
     sort: bool = False,
     suffixes: Suffixes = ("_x", "_y"),
-    copy: bool = True,
+    copy: bool | None = None,
     indicator: str | bool = False,
     validate: str | None = None,
 ) -> DataFrame:
@@ -744,7 +744,7 @@ def _reindex_and_concat(
         join_index: Index,
         left_indexer: npt.NDArray[np.intp] | None,
         right_indexer: npt.NDArray[np.intp] | None,
-        copy: bool,
+        copy: bool | None,
     ) -> DataFrame:
         """
         reindex along index and concat along columns.
@@ -793,7 +793,7 @@ def _reindex_and_concat(
         result = concat([left, right], axis=1, copy=copy)
         return result
 
-    def get_result(self, copy: bool = True) -> DataFrame:
+    def get_result(self, copy: bool | None = True) -> DataFrame:
         if self.indicator:
             self.left, self.right = self._indicator_pre_merge(self.left, self.right)
 
@@ -1800,7 +1800,7 @@ def __init__(
             sort=True,  # factorize sorts
         )
 
-    def get_result(self, copy: bool = True) -> DataFrame:
+    def get_result(self, copy: bool | None = True) -> DataFrame:
         join_index, left_indexer, right_indexer = self._get_join_info()
 
         llabels, rlabels = _items_overlap_with_suffix(
diff --git a/pandas/tests/copy_view/test_functions.py b/pandas/tests/copy_view/test_functions.py
index 569cbc4ad7583..ffc80d2d11798 100644
--- a/pandas/tests/copy_view/test_functions.py
+++ b/pandas/tests/copy_view/test_functions.py
@@ -1,9 +1,12 @@
 import numpy as np
 
+import pandas.util._test_decorators as td
+
 from pandas import (
     DataFrame,
     Series,
     concat,
+    merge,
 )
 import pandas._testing as tm
 from pandas.tests.copy_view.util import get_array
@@ -177,3 +180,63 @@ def test_concat_mixed_series_frame(using_copy_on_write):
     if using_copy_on_write:
         assert not np.shares_memory(get_array(result, "a"), get_array(df, "a"))
     tm.assert_frame_equal(result, expected)
+
+
+@td.skip_copy_on_write_not_yet_implemented  # TODO(CoW)
+def test_merge_on_key(using_copy_on_write):
+    df1 = DataFrame({"key": ["a", "b", "c"], "a": [1, 2, 3]})
+    df2 = DataFrame({"key": ["a", "b", "c"], "b": [4, 5, 6]})
+    df1_orig = df1.copy()
+    df2_orig = df2.copy()
+
+    result = merge(df1, df2, on="key")
+
+    if using_copy_on_write:
+        assert np.shares_memory(get_array(result, "a"), get_array(df1, "a"))
+        assert np.shares_memory(get_array(result, "b"), get_array(df2, "b"))
+        assert not np.shares_memory(get_array(result, "key"), get_array(df1, "key"))
+        assert not np.shares_memory(get_array(result, "key"), get_array(df2, "key"))
+    else:
+        assert not np.shares_memory(get_array(result, "a"), get_array(df1, "a"))
+        assert not np.shares_memory(get_array(result, "b"), get_array(df2, "b"))
+
+    result.iloc[0, 1] = 0
+    if using_copy_on_write:
+        assert not np.shares_memory(get_array(result, "a"), get_array(df1, "a"))
+        assert np.shares_memory(get_array(result, "b"), get_array(df2, "b"))
+
+    result.iloc[0, 2] = 0
+    if using_copy_on_write:
+        assert not np.shares_memory(get_array(result, "b"), get_array(df2, "b"))
+    tm.assert_frame_equal(df1, df1_orig)
+    tm.assert_frame_equal(df2, df2_orig)
+
+
+def test_merge_on_index(using_copy_on_write):
+    df1 = DataFrame({"a": [1, 2, 3]})
+    df2 = DataFrame({"b": [4, 5, 6]})
+    df1_orig = df1.copy()
+    df2_orig = df2.copy()
+
+    result = merge(df1, df2, left_index=True, right_index=True)
+
+    if using_copy_on_write:
+        assert np.shares_memory(get_array(result, "a"), get_array(df1, "a"))
+        assert np.shares_memory(get_array(result, "b"), get_array(df2, "b"))
+    else:
+        assert not np.shares_memory(get_array(result, "a"), get_array(df1, "a"))
+        assert not np.shares_memory(get_array(result, "b"), get_array(df2, "b"))
+
+    result.iloc[0, 0] = 0
+    if using_copy_on_write:
+        assert not np.shares_memory(get_array(result, "a"), get_array(df1, "a"))
+        assert np.shares_memory(get_array(result, "b"), get_array(df2, "b"))
+
+    result.iloc[0, 1] = 0
+    if using_copy_on_write:
+        assert not np.shares_memory(get_array(result, "b"), get_array(df2, "b"))
+    tm.assert_frame_equal(df1, df1_orig)
+    tm.assert_frame_equal(df2, df2_orig)
+
+
+# TODO(CoW) add merge tests where one of left/right isn't copied