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I'm using a photograph of a famous personality for a poster I'm making. I'll be manipulating the photo, maybe using image trace to create a vectorized version of the image for the poster. This I believe would be considered a derivative. I found the same image in multiple places, how do I find the original source of such a photograph to credit it's creator for my work and not face copyright infringement? When I see the images in Google search it simply says this image may be subject to copyright. (Also, is there a specific way to credit the creator? Under what circumstances do I have to buy the image to use it?)

There is no name or watermark on the image. One of the highest resolutions of the image links to a wallpaper site. This is the image I want to use:
https://www.hdwallpapers.in/roger_federer_4k_5k-wallpapers.html

I'm really new to all of this and have just started learning graphic design. I'm really confused about copyright issues and I definitely do not want to get sued for anything.

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    Where did you get the photo from? If you’re using it for a poster, you must have it in quite high quality, not just a GIS download; was the photographer’s name not included where you downloaded it? In general, you’ll need to request (and possibly pay for) permission from the photographer to be allowed to use it, even for portfolio work. Unless your font is open source or freeware, you generally also need to buy a licence for it just to install and use it on your computer. That’s about as much of an answer as can be given with so little detail.
    – Janus Bahs Jacquet
    Apr 22, 2018 at 22:44
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    you should not use images from that website for commercial purposes...
    – Luciano
    Apr 23, 2018 at 8:17
  • That image presents a succesful professional player. Ask photos from his marketing agent. You find the contact in player's own website. Prepare to see that you get no rights for your favourite photo, but there's a premium priced collection available with very complex and limiting license.
    – user287001
    Apr 23, 2018 at 11:19
  • Hi Raz94, I added your further details to the question, you can edit to add further details yourself in future. I removed your second question too, please limit your questions to a single distinct question, if you have another question you can always ask another (please search previous questions first though). Thanks!
    – Cai
    Apr 23, 2018 at 16:03

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You need to read the Terms of Service and Disclaimer at the site you found the image:

...all images on this website are copyrighted by their respective authors, therefore, if you wish to use these images for any other use you must get permission from their respective authors.

If you can not determine the copyright holder, the only option is to not use the image.

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No image that is copyrighted by the originator (photographer/agency/publisher) can be appropriated in the way you propose. It's a clear copyright violation. If you're making a poster for your bedroom wall, OK; no one will know. If you are going to sell or publish or exhibit your work, you will be risking legal action and possibly opening yourself to owing damages to the copyright owner.

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