Ernesto Apa

Furthermore, he is ranked by Who’s Who Legal in several guides: Thought Leaders – Data 2023 and Thought Leaders Global Elite – Entertainment 2023 (“Global Elite Thought Leader”); Thought Leaders – Data – Information Technology 2023 (“Thought Leader”); Data 2024 (“Data Privacy and Protection” and “Information Technology”), Telecoms, Media  & Entertainment 2024 a(“Global Elite Thought Leader” for “Telecoms, Media” and “Entertainment”); Italy 2023 guide (“Recommended” for “Data” and “Telecoms, Media & Entertainment”).

He is also indicated as a “Notable Practitioner” by IP Stars (Managing Intellectual Property Survey, Euromoney Legal Media Group), and ranked also by Leaders League and Expert Guides (Legal Media Group). He has been recognized as a Client Choice International Awards 2020 winner in the Media & Entertainment practice area.

Ernesto joined Portolano Cavallo in 2003 and became a partner in 2010. He advises domestic and international clients on regulatory and contractual aspects within the Digital-Media-Tech sector, such as exploitation of digital content, television and audiovisual services, internet, advertising and unfair commercial practices, copyright, ISP liability, electronic communications, etc. Lastly, he has extensive experience on the regulatory aspects of M&A transactions in the Digital-Media-Tech sector, having worked as regulatory counsel on many such deals over the years.

Ernesto is the author of a treatise on advertising, of the entry “Television” for legal encyclopedia “Diritto OnLine” edited by Treccani (the Italian equivalent of the Encyclopædia Britannica), as well as many articles on media and constitutional law on the most prestigious Italian law reviews (Giurisprudenza Costituzionale, Quaderni Costituzionali, Foro Italiano, etc.). With Oreste Pollicino, he edited the first “Codice della comunicazione digitale” (Code of digital communications – Internet, TV, Advertising, Privacy, now in its second edition; Egea, 2015), and authored (in English) “Modeling the liability of internet service providers. Google vs. Vivi down. A constitutional perspective” (Egea, 2013).

He is also the co-author of “La regolamentazione dei contenuti digitali” (The regulation of digital content, Aracne, 1998-2013), a volume celebrating the first fifteen years of the Italian Communications Authority (AGCOM), which includes chapters authored by the incumbent President and all past Presidents of the Authority. He also co-authored the books “Diritti e libertà in Internet” (Rights and Liberties on the Internet, Mondadori Education, 2017) and “La riforma del mercato audiovisivo europeo” (“The New European Audiovisual Regulatory Framework” Giappichelli, 2019).

Ernesto is Academic Fellow (professore a contratto) of Digital Media and Regulation at the LL.M. in Law of Internet Technology of the Bocconi University, has been Academic Fellow (professore a contratto) of International Law at the University of Calabria and teaches in the Master in Information Technology Law of the La Sapienza University in Rome.

He is vice-Editor-in-Chief of MediaLaws – Rivista di diritto dei media.

He is a member of the International Bar Association (IBA), of the think tank ASTRID (Fondazione per l’Analisi, gli Studi e le Ricerche sulla Riforma delle Istituzioni Democratiche) and of I-Com. He is also a correspondent of the European Audiovisual Observatory, Chairman of the VI subcommittee of the Film Classification Commission of the Ministry of Culture and he was for four years a member, as an independent expert, of the Government’s Permanent Committee on Copyright.

In 2009 Ernesto obtained a Ph.D. in Public Business Law from Sapienza Università di Roma; he graduated summa cum laude from the law school of the same university in 2002.

Foreign languages: English

Ernesto is a member of the Cosenza Bar Association (5370).