Can a specific idea for art be protected or patented?
Example: I draw a funny cartoon of an employee falling asleep at a staff meeting. Then I add a phrase making the art even funnier (at least for me).
Being a poster collector, I have not seen this poster anywhere else here. So I decide to print a poster of my art with the added phrase and sell it to a walmart.
The poster sells a lot, so someone else copies my idea (employee falling asleep at a staff meeting) by creating a different cartoon and adding a different funny phrase.
Can something like this be avoided?