Although the literature suggests that it is not possible, even with significant up front funding, to establish self-sufficient, sustainable cultural digital publishing systems, the Art Museum Image Consortium (AMICO) has proven otherwise over the past five years. The business model that has made this possible, and the concrete financial results of the undertaking over the past five years, are explored in this article in order to detail how this was done and identify the problems that are resolved (and sometimes created), by undertaking such a venture. Elements of the business plans that have proven important are examined in more depth as are the specific sources of income and expenditure in order to reveal what would be needed to use market forces to replicate the AMICO experience in a different context. %U http://www.archimuse.com/publishing/ichim03/012C.pdf