The sharing of benefits of space activities is a principle that is repeated throughout several legal instruments that regulate outer space as a key principle. These legal instruments offer very little guidance in how to interpret this principle and what the scope of its corresponding obligation is. Considering the shift to privatization and commercialization of space activities, defining this principle becomes ever more pressing to be able to assess and solve the discrepancy between legal obligations and contemporary developments in the use of space. The supply and use of Earth Observation (EO) data provides a particularly fertile case study to illustrate this. Different pricing policies are analysed with particular regard for the benefit principle, but also taking into account the interests of commercial and private actors as participants of a developing EO data market. Currently, there is no definite consistency in pricing and access policies. To secure this balance between the needs of the EO data market and the obligation that the benefits principle holds, a binding international regulation on EO data access, pricing and further (re)distribution could offer the consistency and stability the commercial EO data market needs to mature while also protecting social and scientific interests.